Closer
by BlueIceFire1517
Summary: All Alexandra wanted to do was escape from her father. To do that, she follows her older brother to Dauntless and quickly becomes the target of Dauntless' youngest leader. As her brother pulls her in one direction to hide her Divergence, she pulls back, and ends up closer to the cruel young leader than her friends and brother would like. (Eric/OC)
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys, thanks for checking out my story! It's my first Divergent story so sorry if it's no up to par. This story is kind of a mix of things from the books and things from the movie. For example, all the character in my story are based off of the looks of the characters in the movie, but if you want to picture them otherwise feel free to! This story takes place in the year between Four and Tris' initiation.**

**Disclaimer: The only thing that is mine is my OCs.**

**Sorry ahead of time for any grammar/spelling mistakes!**

* * *

"Drink this," A slender, yet well built, Dauntless man said as he passed me a small glass of clear liquid. I hesitantly took the unknown substance from the tattooed man. I brought it to my nose, hoping for just a glimpse at what the serum would do, but was disappointed to learn that it had no sent.

"What is it?" I asked, my curious blue eyes met the other man's bored green ones.

"Drink. It." He growled getting impatient. I knew that no matter what this test told me I was leaving. I was finally going to escape him, just as my brother had. I gave the Dauntless man one last nervous glance before leaning my head back and downing the liquid.

"Choose, Alexandra." The room shifted and I was presented with the choice of a sharp simple knife or large chunk of cheese.

"Why?"

"Choose!"

"Not until I know what I'll do with them."

"Fine, have it your way."

I gasped as my eyes shot open. My forehead and palms were lined with sweat, the feeling of the dogs fur still in between my fingers. My eyes immediately found the Dauntless man's. They were no longer bored and dull, but bright and alarmed. "You need to go. Now."

"What? Why?" I questioned as he pulled me out of the metal chair and dragged me to the door. Before he could manage to open it, I pulled my arm from his grasp. "What's wrong? What were my results?"

He stopped his panic and turned to face me. "Abnegation," my chest sunk with disappointment, "And Dauntless. And Erudite." I didn't need to speak, my questions were written all over my face. "Your results were inconclusive."

"But that's not...-"

"But it is. It's just really rare. They call it Divergent. Being Divergent makes you dangerous to them. You can't tell anyone, not even your family," Yeah, like I would dare tell my father I got anything else besides Abnegation. "I put you in manually as Abnegation. Go right home. Say that the serum made you sick."

Before I could ask anything else, he shoved me out the door. I stood their for a few seconds. Divergent? Well, at least it was better than Abnegation. Anything was better than Abnegation.

As I made my way home, I found that a smile was firmly planted across my face. Not only did I get something other then Abnegation, I got Dauntless. And Erudite too of course, but Dauntless was where I wanted to be ever since I saw my brother's blood drip into the burning coal last year.

A lump rose in my throat as I approached my house. What if he was home? What if he asked about my results? I couldn't lie to him. Well, I could but the likelihood of me getting away with it was very slim.

Stepping up to the plain grey house, I gained my composure. I opened and stepped through the door confidently. But that confidence was just a mask that faltered as I laid eyes on Marcus. He sat at the dinning room table, reading the daily paper. He had a frustrated look on his face, due probably from the most recent publication of Erudite gossip. He folded the paper and placed it on the table, looking up at me.

"How'd it go?" His voice was calm and smooth. It was the voice that the people of Abnegation knew their leader to have.

"Good."

"Just good? What was your result?" He raised a suspicious eyebrow. _You can't tell anyone, not even your family. _The Dauntless man's words rung through my head as I prepared myself to answer his question.

"Abnegation," I stood in front of him, my hands behind my back. I stood tall, knowing how much he hated bad posture. I had my brown hair tucked neatly into place, just as Marcus always liked.

"You're lying to me," He growled. This, this was the voice that the people of Abnegation didn't hear. This was the voice of Marcus Eaton, my father. This was the voice that echoed through my nightmares.

"No, I'm not! I swear!" My eyes grew wide. Technically I was telling the truth. I did get Abnegation, just not fully.

"Oh really? That's the same look your brother had on his face when he told me his results," I was surprised at the fact that he brought my older brother up. We never talked out him. I was never allowed to even mention him. "Look where that little traitor is now," I wanted to defend my brother, but I couldn't bring myself to do so. Marcus got up and out of his chair, coming closer to me. I swallowed hard, knowing what was coming next. "What will your choice be tomorrow, hm? Who will you follow? Me or Tobias?" This wasn't a question I wanted to answer wrong, but one more day with him is all I had to endure. For once I wasn't going to be his perfect little girl.

"Tobias," I stated, making eye contact with my father. His eyes were so fierce that they alone could do enough damage to make my quiver in fear. Marcus brought his hand up and was about to strike me. "Dad, the Choosing Ceremony!" I warned. I knew how much my father cared about his image. A bruise on the side of my face would not benefit his already deteriorating reputation.

"Well then, lucky for you that you aren't staying in Abnegation or else I might care!" He barked and struck me so hard across the face that the last thing I saw that night was his hand coming at me.

**XXX**

On the way to the Hub that morning, serval people stared at the dark black and blue that made its home across the left side of my face. A few had the audacity to ask. My father brushed them off with a simple 'she fell down the stairs' lie.

Marcus never looked at me the whole bus ride, not once. Even as we walked into the Hub and marched up the stairs he averted his eyes. I would like to think that it was out of guilt, but I knew it was because he was ashamed. Not of what he did, but of me.

We parted ways without a word, Marcus making his way over to the other leaders and me making my way over to the other dependents. I smiled as I saw Jake beckoning me over to him. Jake was a tall, lean Dauntless boy. He had dark brown hair that swept across his features and bright blue eyes that gave away his every emotion. His black tattoos that crawled up his arms complemented his pale complexion.

I didn't have many friends, but Jake was my best friend. In fact, most of my friends were Dauntless due to Jake. No one from Abnegation gave me a second look thanks to Marcus, but Jake was always happy to see me.

As I got closer, the smile on his face faltered as he spotted the bruise on my face. I never told him about Marcus, but I was sure he knew. Every once in a while he would spot a bruise or cut and question it. I always changed the subject, not because I didn't trust him, but because I didn't want him to look at me the way the rest of Abnegation looked at me, like a kicked puppy.

"What happened to your face, Alexandra?" He took my face in his hands, inspecting the bruise. The Abnegation weren't one for physical contact, but I had gotten so used to Jake's touch that it didn't bother me anymore.

"Would you believe me if I told you I fell down the stairs?" I asked, giving him a nervous look.

"No," he let my face go. "but i'm pretty sure that if you told me what happened a certain leader wouldn't make it out of this room," Jake was always protective of me. Not that I needed it, put I appreciated it. Tobias usually was always the one that took that roll, but since he left, Jake took that position.

I smirked at the thought of Jake taking on my father in front of hundreds of people from all five factions. "Oh shut up and sit down." Thankfully Jake's last name was Dwyer so he sat on my right. Aidan Fox sat on my left. He was another Dauntless boy that I was good friends with. His short black hair was tousled as if he had just rolled out of bed. Unlike Jake who was one for tattoos, Aidan had several piercings. One on his eyebrow, lip, tongue, and two in both ears. He had bright green eyes just like the Dauntless man who administered my Aptitude test. But just as Jake, he frowned when he saw my face, but he didn't ask any questions.

This year it was Amity's turn to host the Choosing Ceremony, so Johanna Reyes stood in front of the crowd and gave the opening speech. Soon after, she began reading off the names. My stomach began to turn in knots as I waited for my name to be called. I didn't realize I had zoned out until the sound of Jake's name rang through the room. He got up and confidently made his way to the bowls. That was one thing that I always admired about Jake, no matter how terrified he actually was, you would never know unless you looked at his eyes.

He stood before the five bowls; lit coal for Dauntless, grey stones for Abnegation, water for Erudite, glass for Candor, and soil for Amity. Johanna gave him a slight smile as she handed him the knife. Jake, without hesitation, slid the knife down his palm and held it over the burning coal. As soon as it sizzled, the Dauntless shouted a welcome to Jake. He made his way over to them and sat down.

"Alexandra Eaton," I swallowed hard as I got to my feet. Aidan gave me one last reassuring look before I made my way to the bowls. Johanna gave me a friendly smile as she handed me the knife. I had met her plenty of times before. She was somehow friends with my father, although I'm sure she knew what he was capable of seeing that she was unfortunately not surprise to see the bruise on my face.

I was so nervous I barely felt the knife pierce my palm. I clutched it to my chest as I looked at all the bowls. This was it. This was my escape. I held my hand out and a weight lifted off my chest as I heard the sizzling of the coal as my blood came into contact with it.

Once again the Dauntless shouted in joy as I walked over to them. A few unknown faces came up to me and greeted and welcomed me. Jake came over and gave me a bear hug, which was a little awkward for me, but a good new kind of awkward. An awkward that would disappear with time along with my Abnegation ways. He pulled away and smiled at me.

"Welcome to Dauntless."

* * *

**I hoped you liked it! It's a work in progress, just like any other story. I'd love to hear what you thought so feel free to review or message me! :)**

**FYI this story is on Wattpad too incase any of you were wondering (though you probably weren't lol)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you guys for all the alerts and favorites! And thank you _Marie Fox_, _Zizi385, hugabunny12, and Jessy Ann _for the reviews! **

**All honesty, updates probably won't come this fast after the first couple of chapters because some of them are already half writtenish. And writer block always has a way to mess things up lol.**

**I hope you guys like it!**

* * *

The ceremony didn't last for much longer. As soon as the last name was read and the last dependent choose their faction, the Dauntless were on their feet. Before I left the room, I made sure to look back and find my father. He stood among the other leaders, but was paying no attention to them. His eyes bore into mine and he wore a look of disgust on his face. That face would usually terrify me, but now, it told me that I did something right. I did something for me, not for him.

As I looked away from my father, I noticed that the Dauntless were all headed for the stairs. I looked at Jake confused, but he just smiled at me. I always thought the Abnegation were the only faction to take the stairs. I guess I was wrong.

As soon as the first Dauntless hit the first step they broke into a run. We filed down the stairs and out of the Hub. I gasped for air as I struggled to keep up with the rest of them. Jake and Aidan stayed at my pace, although due to their lean builds I'm sure they could run much faster. We ran towards the train tracks and once we got to the edge of the metal lines I stoped and caught my breath. The other Dauntless however were bouncing on the balls of their feet, unfazed by the run and ready to go.

"Here it comes!" Someone shouted as a horn sounded in the distance. The train came around the corner and began to slow slightly, I assume so we can jump on. The Dauntless after all were the only faction to use the trains on a daily basis.

"Are we supposed to hop on that thing?" An Amity boy asks.

"Yup," I sigh. I still haven't caught my breath when I see the Dauntless begin to run again. I don't want to move. My leg and lung are screaming and brurning with pain. I just want to sit and rest.

"Let's go, Alexandra!" Aidan pulls me with him as he began to run. To keep up with him, I'm forced to run as well. The train starts to glide alongside us as we continue to run. After a few cars pass, Jake jumps and grabs a handle on the outside of the car, slipping into the car with ease.

"Your turn," Aidan smirked, his breath even and controlled. I give him a hesitant look before jumping and latching on to the side of the train. I almost lose my grip when Jake pulls me in. As soon as I'm in, my legs give from under me and I sit along the metal wall. Jake plops down next to my and Aidan pulls himself in the car.

"You guys are insane," I huffed as my lungs struggled to obtain oxygen. Both boys smirked at me, trying to hide their amusement.

"You're one of us now, so that makes you insane too," Jake nudged me and I chuckled.

The rest of the train ride was quiet. I had never realized how peaceful a train ride actually was. I looked around at the rest of the people in the car. A majority were Dauntless, but the transfers stuck out like a sore thumb among the sea of black. There were four Erudite, three Candor, two Amity and myself. One of the Candor boys stood out to me though. I recognized him, unlike the other transfers who I had never seen before. I cringed as soon as I realized who he was.

At lunch one day at school he began haggling me about the theories that the Abnegation were stealing food. He accused us of being corrupt and being the most selfish faction of all. He had shoved me and I fell. But thankfully, before he could do anything else, Jake stepped in. I would have defended myself, but if I did, that wouldn't have been Abnegation of me. If I had protecting myself, my father probably would have beat me and called me selfish.

Jake had stepped in and pushed him aside, telling him to back off. The Candor boy brushed Jake off and walked away. Jake helped me up and made sure I was okay. That was the first day I had ever met Jake. After that we became good friends and he introduced me to his Dauntless friends.

Jake and Aidan got to their feet after about a half hour ride. I raised an eyebrow and Jake offered me a hand. "Hope you're not afraid of heights." I grabbed his hand and he pulled me up. I'd never been anyplace of significant hight so I wouldn't know. I didn't understand the grounds for his concern until I looked out of the open train door. The train had slowed down over the past few minutes and now I knew why. We neared a rooftop that was about seven stories up. As the first car came parallel to the roof, Dauntless began jumping from the train to the roof.

I turned my head as I heard one of the two Amity transfers, a girl with blond hair and brown eyes, begin to freak out. "They want us to jump? No, way. I won't do it." I left Jake's side and stumbled over to her.

"If you don't want to be factionless you have to," I said to her sternly. "I'm Alexandra, by the way. Come on," I grabbed her arm and pulled her closer to the door. I gave Jake and Aidan a slight nod and they proceed to jump without me.

"Why are you doing this? For me, I mean." The girl asked me.

"I've seen how the factionless live. It's not a place you want to be," I looked out and at the roof. The end of the roof was nearing. If we didn't jump now, we wouldn't make it. "On three," my heart began to race.

"One," my chest began to tighten.

"Two," my palms began to sweat.

"Three!" We raced forward, leaping from the train to the roof. For a mere second, I felt weightless, free. It was exhilarating. As gravity pulled me towards the roof, I tried to regain my balance, but failed to do so as I tumbled into the gravel. The bruise on my face ached as it came into contact with the ground. I pushed myself up to my knees to inspect my injuries. Surprisingly, I didn't have any, just some awkward impressions from where the gravel had been. I got to my feet and looked for the Amity girl. She had made it and landed not far from me. I made my way over to her and helped her to her feet. "My name is Olivia, by the way," she smiled.

"Nice to meet you," I smiled back and we made our way over to the group of initiates. They had formed a group near the ledge. There was a man standing on the ledge with his arms crossed. He had gauges in both ears and a piercing above his right eyebrow. He had tattoos running up his neck and down his forearms. But the thing that stood out the most was his piercing blue/grey eyes. They were cold and haunting, sending a shiver down my spine.

Once everyone had mad it to the group the man spoke, "Alright, listen up!" all of the whispers in the crowd died down. "I'm Eric, I'm one of your leaders," He shifted on the ledge so he was looking towards the ground. He seemed comfortable up there, which was completly astonishing since we were over 70 feet above the ground. A drop from this hieght would kill you. "If you wanna enter Dauntless, this is the way in," he turned back so he was facing us. He intertwined his fingers and rested his hands in front of him, "And if you don't have the guts to jump, then you don't belong here."

"What's at the bottom? Is there water or something?" One of the Erudite boys asked.

"I guess you'll find out," Eric replied, smirking. A worried look spread across the Erudite boy's features. "Or not."

"Seriously? What's with all the jumping?" I whispered to Jake, who stood next to me. He smiled and shrugged. Obviously these jumps weren't fazing him. Aidan, on the other hand, was getting paler by the second.

"Well, someones gotta go first, who's it gonna be?" Eric's question was met by silence. Something in me was pulling me towards the ledge. I should be the first one. It would be the Dauntless thing to do, right? The faster they saw me as Dauntless, the quicker they forgot that I was Abnegation.

I stepped forward and through the crowd of initiates. Jake tried to grab my arm, but I pulled it away from him. This was my chance to separate from my Abnegation ways. As I stepped in front of Eric, he hopped off the ledge, giving me a questionable look. Maybe it was the bruise on my face. Or maybe he didn't believe that out of all of the people on the this roof I would be the first to jump. My eyes connected with his for a brief moment and my chest became tight. His attention was drawn off me by the Candor boy that I had recognized from earlier. "A Stiff? This'll be interesting. She'll probably slip and get another bruise on the other side of her face."

I looked back and scowled at him. He had a smirk on his face. His brown hair was neatly combed and his brown eyes judged me from a distance. I brushed his comment off and stepped onto the edge. I instantly almost lost my balance, but managed to regain it. I looked down, which wasn't the smartest decision, and saw a gaping hole in the concrete below. It had no bottom as far as I could see.

I must have been standing up there for awhile because Eric's voice nearly made me slip. "Any day, Initiate," I could hear by the tone of his voice that he was annoyed. I turned slightly and faced him. At this point I was annoyed myself.

"If someone asked you to jump off a goddamn building for the first time I'm sure you wouldn't appreciate them rushing you, now would you?" From Eric's expression I could tell that he was just as surprised my retort as I was. "Didn't think so," I mumbled. Eric's shock turned to rage within a few seconds. He was just about to speak, but I didn't give him the chance as I stepped off the ledge and into the abyss waiting below.

I felt as if I was falling for minutes, not seconds, as the wind rushed past me. I was too amazed and terrified to scream. Once I passed through the hole in the ground I landed on something and instantly bounced back up several feet before dropping back down. Once the bouncing stopped, my fingers curled around the rope I was laying on. It was a net! I wanted to laugh, but didn't get the chance as the right side of the net sunk and I rolled near the edge. I caught myself before I fell off and was met by a familiar pair of blue eye. A pair of blue eyes that I haven't seen in a year.

* * *

**I hope you guys liked it! I'd love to hear what you guys think so feel free to leave a review or shoot me a PM! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you guys for all the alerts and favorites! And thank you _Jessy Ann and Aranel Silvertongue _****for the reviews! **

* * *

I stared at him, speechless. The feeling must have been mutual seeing that he didn't say anything either. Someone shouted something from behind him and it snapped him out of his daze. His expression went cold and so did his eyes. He grabbed my waist and hauled me off the net and onto a platform a few feet above the ground. I saw him look over the left side of my face. His cold eyes and neutral expression turned pained and apologetic.

"I can't believe it," A dark hair woman said as she walked towards us. The three silver rings in her right eyebrow glistened as she smile. "A Stiff? The first to jump?" She made it seem as if she just witnessed a miracle. "Wow, her 5 minutes here and she's already outdoing you, Four. She might be the new face to the Abnegation turned Dauntless club," she teased.

"We'll see about that, Lauren." His expression went cold again and his tone gave no hint of emotion. She looked me over for a few more seconds before walking away. His expression was still unreadable as he looked at me. After a year of dreaming how this day would go, this was not one of the scenarios that I had imagined. He looked over and began to shout, "First jumper, Alexan-,"

"Alex. Just Alex." I interrupted. He looked back over at me and I swear I saw a hit of a smile on his face.

"First jumper, Alex!" He announced correcting himself. "Go wait over there by Lauren," he instructed, his tone smooth. As I went to pass him, he grabbed my arm, "I'll talk to you later and I'll explain everything, I promise," he whispered. He let his grip linger though, before finally letting go. I nodded and made my way over to Lauren.

His behavior left me confused. Why didn't he mention the fact that I was his sister? There must be a reason for it, right? And why did Lauren call him Four? I had dozens of questions bouncing around in my head as I waited for the other initiates to make their way to the ground.

Once all of the initiates had jumped, we were separated into two groups; Dauntless-born and transfers. Tobias, or Four, Lauren, and Eric led us down a dark narrow tunnel. Olivia stopped short and I almost walked into her. Both groups had stopped.

"This is where we divide," Lauren announced. "Dauntless-born, you'll be coming with me. I'm assuming that you don't need a tour," Lauren began to walk past Eric and Four, leading the Dauntless-born further into Dauntless. I made eye contact with Jake before they turned a corner. Jake was my comfort zone here and now he was gone.

"The rest of you will be with me," Four informed us. "Most of the time I work in the control room, but for the next few weeks I'll be your instructor as you go through initiation. My name is Four. And Eric," Four motioned in the young leader's direction, "will be overseeing your training." I could tell by the look on Four's face that he wasn't exceptionally happy about it. I wouldn't be too happy either if I had a Dauntless leader looking over my shoulder while I was trying to do my job. The fact that it was Eric made it worse.

"What kind of a name is Four?" The one Candor boy asked with a chuckle.

"What kind of a name is Seth?" My brother questioned back sharply. So that was the Candor boy's name. I could tell by the tone of voice Four was using that the frequency of that question began to annoy him. "Follow me."

We all followed him forward, walking in the same direction as the Dauntless-born. It was only a few short minutes of walking before Four pushed open a set of double doors to the "the Pit".

As he explained the purpose and significants of the Pit, my mind began to wander. It wasn't long, however, before my eyes accidentally made contact with Eric's, who was standing off to the side. He scowled as his eyes met mine, reminding me that my choice words on the roof would come back to haunt me. I quickly looked away and back at Four just as he had finished speaking.

After the Pit, he showed us the chasm, which represented the fine line between bravery and stupidity. The rushing water of the chasm was beautiful, yet terrifying at the same time. The roaring of the water could have drowned and quieted all of my thoughts if we had stayed there for much longer. Once Four felt that we got our fill of the chasm he began to move us along.

We passed by the dinning hall on our way to the training room. I did my best to remember the way we came so that way when I had to make my way back here later I could. Four stopped in front of the training room doors, not bothering to open them. He turned to face us, Eric by his side.

"This is where you will be doing most, if not all, of your first phase of training. There are three phases; physical, emotional, and mental. You will be ranked by your level of performance in each phase," Four announced. Before he could continue, Eric spoke up.

"Rankings serve two purposes. One, is to determine which jobs you qualify for after initiation. There are only a few desirable ones. The second, is that ranks will also determines who gets cut," he said with a slight smirk.

"Cut?" One of the Erudite girl asked.

"After each phase training, the lowest ranking initiates will be leaving us." The smirk on his face was still there and an unsettling feeling creeped over me.

"To do..?" Another boy asked. I didn't see who it was this time.

"Well, there's no going back to your families so you'd live factionless," I'd much rather live factioness than go back to my father.

"Why didn't we know that?" The same Erudite girl questioned.

"It's a new rule." Something tells me he was the one that made that new rule.

"Somebody should have told us that," she whined.

"Why? Would you have chosen differently?" He questioned. "What, out of fear? If that's the case then you don't belong here and you might as well leave now," Eric crossed his arms. "It shouldn't matter to you that you might fail. You chose us. Now, we get to choose you."

Everyone was silent, too shocked to say a word. Four picked up on this and motioned us to follow him towards our co-ed living quarters. When we go there, I cringed at the sight of the bathrooms in the back and their lack of privacy.

"You have an hour to get some new clothes and change. After that, be in the chow hall," Eric commanded. Then he turned on his heels and made his way out of the room.

"Chow hall?" I turned, raising an eyebrow at the Erudite girl next to me, I think her name was Kristen?

"Military slang for cafeteria," she informed me without hesitation.

"Ah," was all I could mange as Four began to go into more detail about the currency at Dauntless, which was points.

"After lunch, you have the rest of the day to explore the compound and do whatever you'd like. Just make sure you're in the training room by 8am tomorrow morning. I'll come in as a wake up call an hour prior," As he finished he went to leave, but brushed past me. "Meet me in the dinning hall once you're done," he muttered as he made his way past me and out of the door.

"Alex!" I heard my name and spun around. Olivia had saved me a bed between herself and Kristen. I made my way over to them giving them a small smile. "Ready to do some shopping?" They both seemed a little over excited.

"Um, sure? Shopping really isn't my thing..." In Abnegation, I alternated between two grey attires, both very similar to each other. We were only ever allowed to get new clothes every 6 months.

"Don't worry, I got you covered. Shopping is my specialty!" Kristen squealed as she grabbed my arm, dragging me towards the Pit.

"Why does that not comfort me?" I looked helplessly at Olivia, who laughed in return.

**XXX**

A half hour into our shopping spree, I had managed to buy a few black T-shirts, V-necks, and tank-tops. Kristen had also added a few more less casual shirts that I hadn't bothered to look at. A few pairs of black pants, a pair of black boots, and tennis shoes later, I decided that I was done. Kristen and Olivia insisted that I stay and continue shopping with them, but I wanted to get to the dinning hall as soon as possible. Once I parted from them, I quickly changed into a black V-neck, jeans, and boots.

Finding my way to the dinning hall was definitely interesting as I got lost at least two or three times. After I finally made it to my destination, I noticed that it wasn't as packed as I'm sure it would be in about 20 minutes. I made my way over to the food line and piled my tray with food, a piece of chocolate cake, and a tin cup full of grape juice. Reaching the end of the line, I looked around for my brother. He sat at a near empty table on the other side of the dimly lit room. I balanced my food in my hands as I navigated my way through a crowd of rowdy Dauntless.

I plopped down in the seat to the right of him, taking him a little off guard. "Took you long enough," he sighed.

"It's nice to see you too again, Tobias," I mocked. His attitude had definitely changed over the course of the past year, but not in a bad way. He spoke with more confidence now.

"Don't call me that here!" He hissed, looking over his shoulder, checking if anyone was close enough to hear us.

"Sorry..." His tone took me by surprise. I was so used to him being this soft spoken kid... But what was wrong with calling him by his name?

He looked at me apologetically. "No, I'm sorry. It's just that people here don't now me by that name. They don't know about my past and I don't want them too," He continued to glance over his shoulder every so often, making sure that no one over heard us. "That's why I haven't told anyone that you're my sister. And I'd prefer if you didn't tell anyone either, at least until your initiation is over,"

"I don't blame you..." I said softly, brushing my fingers over the bruise on my face. I wouldn't want anyone knowing that I was Marcus' kid either.

"He did that to you, didn't he?" He looked over my face. His eyes turned from their cold façade to those of an older brother who understood my pain.

"He asked me if I was going to stay in Abnegation or follow you to Dauntless... I told him I was going to follow you," I didn't regret my decision to do so either and I never would.

I saw his lips curl into a smile. It disappeared a few moments later as if he remembered something. "I heard what you said to Eric on the roof."

"Yeah, so?" I questioned him as I began to eat my food.

"You can't say shit like that to people like him here. You don't want to be on his bad side." I could feel his eyes on me as I ate. "You of all people should understanding the concept of knowing when and when not to speak."

As I finished chewing I looked at him. "I'm not afraid of him. I lasted 16 years of my life with Marcus. Eric is an angel compared to him." He chucked at the comparison.

"Just don't piss him off anymore than you already have, okay?" I shrugged my shoulders in response. Four was about speak again, but stopped when we were joined by Jake and Aidan, who sat across from us. They nodded a greeting in Four's direction, but their main focus fell on me.

"Look who it is, it's the first jumper," Aidan smiled.

"I swear you've got more of a reputation here in your first couple of hours than I have in 16 years," Jake joked as he drank from his cup.

"Shut up," I laughed, flicking a piece of broccoli at him. It felt like I hadn't seen the boys in days. They looked just the same, though, in their black attire.

"No, seriously. The way you mouthed off to Eric on the roof...," Jake looked over at Four. "Did you hear about it?" I notice that the Dauntless-born seemed much more comfortable around Four than the transfers. Maybe they already knew him? The irony of Jake knowing Four, but not knowing he was my brother, made me want to laugh.

"Oh yeah, I heard. As a matter of fact I just told the Stiff that she needs to keep her mouth shut." He glared at me

"It was pretty badass though! He was so mad he almost threw the next kid off the roof!" Aidan exclaimed. Damn, I'm glad I jumped when I did then.

"Four's right. You need to be careful around Eric. He may be the youngest leader, but he's probably the cruelest," Jake advised. He was the youngest? How old was he? But it didn't surprise me to learn that he was the cruelest. The coldness of his eyes and expression gave that away pretty easily.

"How old is he?" I raise one eyebrow.

"A year older than us. He was in your initiation class, wan't he, Four?" Aidan looked at Four for conformation.

"Yeah, he transferred from Erudite." He informed us. As our conversation went on, I failed to see Kristen and Olivia make their way into the dinning hall. They made their way over and joined us, Olivia sitting next to me and Kristen sitting next to Jake. They smiled a greeting at the boys and Four.

"Whatcha guys talkin' about?" Olivia asked. Both her and Kristen changed into black attire. It suited Kristen, but looked a little odd on Olivia.

"Eric." I stated.

"He was giving you the dirtiest looks earlier," Kristen said.

"Yeah, I noticed." I sighed.

"Pretty sure you're on his shit list, Alex," Aidan looked pitifully at me.

"Speaking of the devil..." Jake's word made me and Four look over our shoulders. My chest tightened and my heart began to race as I saw Eric making his way over to our table. A feeling rose in my gut, telling me this confrontation was not going to end well.

* * *

**I hope you guys liked it! I'd love to hear what you guys think so feel free to leave a review or shoot me a PM! :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you for all the favorites and alerts! And thank you _Jessy Ann, XLeesianix, and GraveyardGirl666 for the reviews!_**

**_I hope you guys enjoy it!_**

* * *

Eric dropped in the seat next to Four, his expression still as cold as when I first met him. He looked between Four and the rest of the table. "Well, aren't you going to introduce me?"

Four rolled is eyes and sighed. "This is Aidan and Jake," he said, pointing to the two boys. "Kristen, Olivia," Four looked at me last. "and Alex."

"Ah, the Stiff that doesn't know how to keep her mouth shut. You'd figure coming from Abnegation she'd already be acquainted with the concept of keeping her thoughts to herself, no?" Eric's eyes rested on me as he conversated with my brother. His tone was even, no hint of the anger that had graced his face on the roof.

"You'd think that, wouldn't you?" Four replied. Were they friends? God I hoped not. Eric talked to Four as if they were, but from what Four had said about him earlier I was sure they weren't.

"We'll see how long she lasts with that mouth of her's," His focus was still on me as I averted his eyes. I felt squirmish under his gaze, I just wanted to get up and get as far away as possible from him. "You wanna tell me what that bruise on your face is from, Initiate?" Eric asked, raising his pierced eyebrow.

I took a quick glance over at my brother before answering. If I had the balls to speak up against Marcus, then speaking up against Eric would certainly be no problem at all. "It's none of your business," was all I said as I took a sip of my juice, making sure to not look in Eric's direction.

"You're in Dauntless now and I'm a Dauntless leader, that makes it my business," he growled. I didn't have to look at him to know the look on his face. I wanted to reach across Four and slap the look off Eric's face. Who does he think he is? The only person who ever put themselves above me was my father and he's gone now. I refuse to let some else think they can take that place over me. I refuse to be intimated anymore.

I placed my cup down on the table, rather harsh, and turned to face the young leader. Four had begun to lean back, hoping to get as far away from this as possible without making it obvious. I could tell by his facial expression he was surprised by my attitude. Truth was, I had always been this way, I'd just learned to hold my tongue in front of my family. That was the Abnegation thing to do, right? I'm Dauntless now, though. Those rules don't apply here. "You wanna know how I got this?" I looked Eric square in the eye. I almost lost my thought in his icy blue eyes before I managed to grab it and spit it out. I felt the eyes of the whole table on me as I began to speak. "I picked a fight with a kid who didn't know how to mind his own damn business and stop asking questions he didn't need to know the answers to."

"Alex…" Four hissed a warning. I understood the nature of his warning as I saw the anger rise through Eric's face.

"If there's one thing you'll learn here Initiate, it's how to keep your mouth shut!" He growled. "I let what happened on the roof slide, but you better watch yourself! I've punished people for a lot less… As a matter of fact, I want you in the training room an hour earlier tomorrow. And if you're not there I'll drag you out of bed myself," He got up with a scowl on his face and stomped out of the dinning hall, leaving all eyes resting on me.

"What a baby…," I muttered. Four grabbed my arm and dragged me from my seat and into the hall. Since it was lunch time, nobody was left lingering in the halls because they were all eating.

"Have you lost your mind?! Where the fuck did that come from? Huh?" His tone was harsh, but not loud. He stood there a few moments, waiting for an answer, but didn't receive one. "I literally just told you not to piss him off anymore than you already had!"

"If I can deal with Marcus I can deal with Eric," I snapped. I didn't need him to baby me anymore. I had to live a year with that monster without the protection of Tobias.

"No, Eric is nothing like Marcus," He choked a bit on Marcus' name. "We couldn't fight back against Marcus. With Eric, he'll make you fight back, he likes to watch people struggle and squirm. He's cruel and smart and knows how to hold a grunge. He finds your weak point and doesn't stop pressing it until he breaks you," his tone had gone from enraged to worried.

"I'm tired of people thinking that they can just walk all over me, no more hiding in the shadows and taking the beating. I will fight back and I will defend myself," I pointed my index finger at him. "_You _left me with him. I learned how to survive without you and I can continue to do so. I don't need you babying me anymore," I crossed my arms over my chest. I could tell by his hurt expression that I hit a nerve, but I needed him to get it through his head.

"I'm not babying you. I'm trying to protect you!" He insisted.

"I don't need your protection!" I argued. "You wanna keep the fact that you're my brother here under wraps? That perfectly fine with me. I don't want people to know me as _Four's _sister. I want to be know as Alex. I want to be my own person here."

"I understand that," his tone began to lower back to normal. "but I'm still your instructor here. When I tell you to do something, you do it."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…," I brushed him off.

"I'm serious, Alexandra. As your instructor I'm tell you this; this may not be Abnegation anymore, but you still need to keep your trap closed here, especially when it comes to the leaders," He lifted my chin so my eyes met his. "I don't know how you went from this quiet Abnegation girl that I knew to this outspoken one, but you need to be carful with what you say and who you say it to, okay?"

"Okay." I nodded. "Once you left, I knew Abnegation wasn't for me. I made Dauntless friends at school and became my own person for once. Granted, I kept my mouth shut around Marcus, but even that didn't last," I explained, motioning to the bruise on my face. I could have sworn I saw the corners of his mouth turn slightly upwards.

"Just be careful," He pulled me in and wrapped his arms around me. It took me a moment to respond. My brother hasn't hugged me since our mother died, and that was years ago. The Abnegation weren't one for physical touch and I never understood why. Being hugged by my brother was the best feeling I'd had in a long time.

He pulled away, smiling at me. Then he turned and walked back down the hall, to where, I don't know. After a few moments of standing there, I made my way back into the dinning hall, taking my place across from Jake and Aidan.

Before anyone could comment on the events that just transpired, I spoke first. "So, you Dauntless boys wanna show me where I can get a tattoo?"

**XXX**

Most of the time that was spent walking to the tattoo parlor was a quiet. But I could feel the tension and hear the questions bouncing around in their heads. As we made our way down the final stretch of hallway, I heard Jake sigh.

"Do you have a death wish?" He finally asked. His tone wasn't light and casual as usual, it was almost borderline angry.

"No." I firmly stated. I didn't understand why he seemed upset about my outburst against Eric. It had nothing to do with him.

"Oh really? Because it certainly seems like it." He was defiantly upset. He stopped walking, causing Aidan, Kristen, Olivia, and I to do the same.

"What's your problem?" I'd never fought with Jake before, but it seemed like we were headed in that direction.

"My problem is that it seems that every opportunity you get, you have to piss off the cruelest leader in Dauntless ," He barked. It kind of took me off guard. I'd never seen him like this before.

"Trouble in paradise…" Aidan muttered, earning an elbow to the gut from Kristen.

"Your point?" I didn't really understand where he was going with this.

"My point is that I'm worried about you, Alex. You won't make it through initiation if you keep mouthing off to him. I've seen what he's capable of. I'm afraid that you'll say the wrong thing at the wrong time and you'll end up factionless…or dead," His tone had come back to down to what it was before, but mine began to raise.

"Why does everyone feel the need to protect me? Huh? I can handle myself, okay?" I hated this. I appreciated it, but hated hit. They made it seem that if I was made of glass and one tap in the wrong place would shatter me. That wasn't the case and I needed them to realize that. "I need you guys to let me be my own person," I swear I just had this same conversation with Four.

Jake looked over at Aidan, hoping for some back up, but Aidan just shrugged. "I just need you to stay safe and be okay…"

"I'll be fine, I promise," I gave him a reassuring smile. I closed the space between us and wrapped my arms around his torso. He hugged back instantly, resting his chin on this top of my head. This time hugging him wasn't awkward, it felt comforting.

"Let's go get you tatted up," He joked, pulling away.

"And maybe pierced," Aidan suggested.

Once we made it to the parlor, the sound of busing needles surrounded me. I made my way over to the wall with dozens of different designs on it. A majority were of Dauntless symbols.

"This one," Jake said, pointing to one in the far corner. It was a mix of a tribal pattern and flames. I smiled as I looked at him. I knew exactly where I wanted it too. Olivia went and got a tattoo artist and was back in a few minutes. I pointed to the one that Jake picked.

"Okay, where do want it?" She asked. Her name was Tori I believe?

"On my side," Jake and Aidan looked at me like I was crazy.

"That's one of the most painful spots, Alex. Defiantly not a good choice for your first tattoo," Aidan informed me.

"I don't care, I just want it to cover this," I said, lifting my shit. A scar the length of my left side was imprinted in my skin. I saw the looks on both of their faces drop. They knew what it was from. Kristen and Olivia just saw it as any old scar. But to me it was reminder of my father that I didn't want.

I got it the day of Tobias' Choosing Ceremony. Marcus was so enraged that my brother had left. I knew as soon as his blood dripped into that coal I was going to get beat that night, but for once, I didn't mind, because Tobias was free or him. When we got home, Marcus took off his belt, but instead of using the leather strap he used the buckle. He said it was to teach me that betrayal is a selfish act and that because of Tobias I needed to be taught that.

When he brought the belt buckle down against my skin, the buckle slashed my skin open. After Marcus saw that I was bleeding, he stopped. He realized that the more damage he caused the harder it would be to hide.

"Okay, you got it," Tori said. "Take your shirt off and lay down right here," she patted a table next to her. As I pulled my shirt up and over my head, Jake looked away, like if he looked he would be doing something wrong. I tried not to laugh as I laid down. Taking my shirt off in front of other people was definitely not a comfortable thing, but I brushed aside my discomfort as Tori began to trace the pattern along my side.

**XXX**

It took serval hours for Tori to complete my tattoo. Jake sat in the chair next to me as he got another tattoo himself. Aidan took Kristen to look at piercing and Olivia just sat their and held my hand as Tori had mad her way over my ribs.

"You're all set," That was probably the best thing I'd heard all day as Tori finished. I stood up and made my way over to a mirror hanging on one of the doors in the parlor. The flames crawled up my side, fitting my figure perfectly. I looked for the scar and couldn't find it. I loved it.

"Thank you, it's perfect," I smiled at Tori and she smiled in return.

"Wow, that thing is bad ass," Aidan commented as he made his way back into the parlor with Kristen who had pierced her left eyebrow.

"It fits you," Jake had just gotten his new tattoo wrapped as he spoke fromm behind us.

"I want my lip pierced too," I looked over at Aidan who smiled. Tori began wrapping my torso and gave me instructions on how to take care of the ink on my side.

"You're going all out, aren't you?" Olivia handed me back my shirt.

"Why not?"

45 minutes later, we made our way back to the initiate living quarters. I was still getting used to the foreign feeling on the left side of my lip as we reached our separating point.

"Good luck with Eric tomorrow," Jake gave me a worried look as we wished each other goodnight.

"Thanks, I'll probably need it," I laughed. He didn't laugh back, but gave me a reassuring smile as him and Aidan made their way to the Dauntless-born accommodations.

Most of the initiates were back, but not all of them. It was pretty late though, and I definitely was going to need my sleep for tomorrow. Olivia and Kristen headed to the dinning hall to get some food, asking me if I wanted anything. I wasn't hungry. I was nervous. I was starting to regret what I had said to Eric. For the first time all day, I thought about what had transpired earlier during lunch. Four said he was cruel and calculating. My stomach flipped at the thought of what he had planned for my punishment tomorrow.

* * *

**I hope you guys liked it! I'd love to hear what you guys think so feel free to leave a review or shoot me a PM! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you for all the favorites and alerts! And thank you _musicinmymind13_, _Jessy Ann_, and _GraveyardGirl666 _for the reviews!**

**I hope you guys enjoy it!**

* * *

I woke to someone shaking me. I groaned, opening my eyes. I was about to punch the person in the face before I realized it was Four. I sat up and he sat on the edge on my bed. "It's 6 o'clock. You should get ready and grab some breakfast before you meet Eric in the training room," he whispered.

I nodded my head. I kicked out of the covers as Four stood. "Meet me in the dinning hall in 20 minutes?" I asked. He nodded as he headed out of the room. I quickly walked over to the showers, turning the water on and stripping. I carefully peeled off the bandage that Tori had put over my tattoo. Stepping under the shower nozzle, making sure the water wasn't too hot, I cleaned my wound. After, I washed my hair and everything else. Once I was done, I dried off and got dressed. Seeing that I had no idea what I'd be doing, I settled for a simple tank top with a sports bra, pants, and boots. Unsure of what to do with my hair, I tied it up in a simple ponytail.

This time around when I had to make my way to the dinning hall I had a much easier time finding it. I grabbed some eggs, bacon, and a muffin before spotting my brother at the same table he sat at yesterday. This time though, he sat with a young man with dark skin, and a young women. They looked about the same age as him.

I sat down next to him, greeting the other two with a smile. "Guys this is Alex." Four said introducing us. "Really? You pierced your lip?"

"And got a tattoo," I smiled.

"Ah so you're the famous Alex I've been hearing so much about," the young man smiled. "I'm Zeke, by the way, and this is Shauna." He motioned to the woman next to him. She smiled in reply.

"So you've heard about me?" I asked. I wondered what had been passed around Dauntless about me.

"Oh yeah," Shauna laughed. "Eric was ranting about you at dinner last time. Damn, he was so pissed."

"About me?" Eric was talking about me last time? I don't know if I should be flattered or concerned.

"Yeah, he was going on about how much of a pain in his ass you were going to be," Shauna informed me. Great.

"But I applaud you on your actions though," Zeke smiled. "I love when people defy him. It brings him down to earth and tells him that he's not as high and mighty as he might think. It's a big 'fuck you' to him and I'm all for telling Eric 'fuck you'."

"Don't encourage her." My brother hissed.

"I don't need encouragement to do shit like that," I took a bite of my muffin, smiling at Zeke.

"I like her," Shauna looked over at Zeke and he smiled in agreement. I heard Four sigh next to me and chuckled. The three went on to discuss other topics as I finished my breakfast. I got up and stood by Four.

"You gonna come?" I questioned. I really didn't want to be alone with Eric. I knew that if Four was there he wouldn't do anything too outrageous.

"I'll be in there in a few. I have to go up to the control room with Zeke for something real quick and wake up the others." I nodded. As I walked away, Shauna and Zeke wished me luck. I thanked them and made my way to the training room.

I opened one of the double doors and stepped in the large spacious room. There was a clock that read 6:50 on the wall. I was ten minutes early, but was I glad that I was. It gave me some time to explorer. I walked around, looking at the equipment. I lost track of time and before I knew it, the door opened and the thud of boots echoed around me. I turned to find Eric standing by a platform that was raised a few feet off the ground.

I slowed my pace as I walked over to him. His expression was as cold as it always was, but I could tell that he was tired. "Take your boots off," he commanded. He pulled his sleeveless jacket off his shoulders and was left in a black T-shirt that hugged is torso. For the first time I notice how ripped he was.

"Why?" I questioned. It was such a strange request.

"Just do it," he sighed. I could tell he wasn't expecting anything less from me. As I sat to take my boots off, he did the same. He finished before me and stepped onto the raise platform. I followed suit, standing opposite of him. I was still confused as to what he was going to have me do.

"Since you're one for picking fights," he said referring to comment the day before. "you're gonna fight me."

"You're insane," was all I could get out. "That's my punishment?"

He didn't respond, the look on his face giving me my answer. I saw his eyes travel to my lip, noticing the silver ring. "Make the first move, Stiff."

"Don't call me that," I snarled. I swung at him, missing epically as he stepped out of the way. He smirked and threw his left fist at my face. His fist flew over my head as I just barely ducked in time. I kicked his leg and he stumped, but didn't fall. I took this chance to twist and swing my elbow around, catching him off guard. It connected with his face, splitting his lip. He went to grab me, but I was too fast and slipped behind him. This time, I managed to kick his feet from under him and he landed hard on his back. I straddled his hips and went to hit him in the face again, but I was too slow.

He grabbed my wrist, his face turned from a snarl to a smirk as he flipped us. My legs were still on either side of him, but he had me pinned now. He went to hit me, but he hesitated. There was this unspoken tension there that kicked my senses into overdrive. I felt like my heart was about to beat out of my chest. Why he hesitated, I don't know, but I saw this as an opportunity. I brought my knee up to my chest and kicked him in the groin. He grunted in pain as he slid off me. I scrambled to my feet. Eric managed to make it to his feet as well. Again, I went to swing at him and he stepped aside. He was behind me now, but before I could turned around, his arm slithered around my neck, putting me in a choke hold. I struggled to breath, clawing at his arm as his grip tightened. This movement wasn't effective because of his strength, but because of the grip he was using and I was stupid enough to let him get it locked in. I started to see spots as I heard someone shout Eric's name, telling him to stop, but it was too late, my vision went black and I crumpled to the floor.

"Alex," I heard someone muttered my name. I could't see who it was. My vision was clouded as I opened my eyes. "Alex!" I realized that it wasn't my name being muttered, but shouted.

"Four?" I coughed. My vision began to clear and I could make out Four's figure leaning over me. His cold facade was miles away as I looked into his panicked eyes. "Where's Eric?"

Four seemed a little confused by my concern for the leader's whereabouts, but answered, "He left as soon as you blacked out," I still couldn't believe that he knocked my sorry ass out. "He made you fight him?" he questioned.

The answered was obvious so I didn't feel the need to answer. I ran my hands over my neck, still feeling the muscles in his arm clamped around it. Four noticed this, but said nothing as he helped me to my feet.

He detached himself from me as the doors to the training room opened. He gave me a worried look as the first few initiates strolled through the door. I looked at the clock. 7:50. There was no way Eric and I's fight lasted that long. How long had I been out for?

"I'm fine," I said just loud enough for Four to hear. He nodded, but I could tell by the look he was giving me that he didn't believe me.

I migrated towards Olivia and Kristen as they entered. I could tell that they were curious about my punishment and wanted answers. Kristen opened her mouth to ask, but I just shook my head. To say the least, I was embarrassed that Eric had knocked me out. His goal may have been to put me in my place, but in all honesty, it made me even more eager to defy him. I had endured much worse at the hands of my father. A few minutes unconscious was laughable compared to some of the punishments Marcus had felt necessary to give me.

Once all the initiates had found their way into the training room, Four began. "Today you will be learning the basics on how to shoot a gun and throw a knife." As the last word left Four's lips, the doors opened once more. Everyone looked to see who it was, but I wasn't the least bit interested, at least not until I heard the familiar thud of boots echo in my ears.

Eric.

Four continued, not acknowledging Eric's presence. I did the same, making sure that my eyes didn't wander in his direction. It felt like that's what I did all day. Once Four finished explaining and showing us the basics of how to shoot, he released us onto the range. Eric passed me a few times, but said nothing. I was a decent shot when he wasn't behind me. Every time he passed, my shots ended anywhere besides the center circle. Was he making me nervous? Nah, couldn't be. There was no reason for me to be nervous around him.

Our break for lunch was brief, no one really said anything. We were all too tired to strike up any conversations. Jake and Aidan had made their way over to our table, looking to me for information about this morning. Just as I did Kristen, I shook my head, not wanting to divulge the embarrassing morning. They left the subject alone, but I could tell that their curiosity wasn't satisfied.

Afternoon training was the same as this morning, but with knives. Again, I wasn't half bad, but I wasn't the best. Four made his way over to me, looking at my stance. "You're feet are too wide. Bring them in a little," he kicked my feet in a little. "You're wrist is too stiff," he looked at me and smiled. "No pun intended."

I smiled, rolling my eyes. "Haha, very funny." He walked back down the line to check on the others. I looked over my shoulder to see Eric making his way in my direction. I shrugged his presence off and threw my next knife, loosing my wrist as I threw. It hit the bottom portion of the center circle, improving from my last throw. I threw my next one as Eric passed. Top of the third ring. Damnit.

An hour later we were dismissed. Everyone put their gear away and headed to the dinning hall for dinner. I was the last to head out. Force of habit I guess. I was just about to walk through the door until Eric spoke from a few feet behind me.

"Alex," I stopped at the sound of my name. It was strange hearing it come from him. It was the first time that he'd used my actual name. I turned to face Eric. He played with a knife, not looking at me. We were the only two left in the room.

"Yeah?" What did he want? I really wasn't in the mood to have a conversation with him.

"How are you feeling?" He looked up and at my neck.

I had to stifle a laugh. "I'd be feeling much better if you hadn't cut off my supply of oxygen this morning."

"Well, maybe it wouldn't have had to come to that had you learned to hold your tongue," he growled. He tucked the knife in his pocket and crossed his arms.

"Don't act like you didn't enjoy it," I rolled my eyes. The corners of his mouth twitched upwards, but it was so brief that I almost missed it. "Can I ask you something?"

Eric raised his eyebrow in curiosity, waiting for me to ask. "Why didn't you hit me?"

He looked confused by the question. "Why didn't I hit you?"

"You had me pinned. You could have easily punched me in the face, but you didn't. You hesitated. Why?" I was curious. It wasn't like Eric to show mercy, to not take an opportunity that benefited him. He wasn't that kind of person.

"I've been asking myself the same question," he stated lowly. He averted his eyes from me and made his way past me and out of the training hall.

* * *

**I hope you guys liked it! I'd love to hear what you guys think so feel free to leave a review or shoot me a PM! :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you guys for all the alerts and favorites! And thank you _theotheralison, Jessy Ann, GraveyardGirl666, hugabunny13, _and_ tye dye tail _for the reviews!**

**I hope you like it!**

* * *

I picked at my food, Eric's words still fresh in my mind. _I've been asking myself the same question. _What the hell was that supposed to mean? I couldn't get a read off him and I don't think I would ever be able to.

"So you're seriously not gonna tell us what happened this morning?" Jake snapped me out of my daze as I looked at him. He was seated across from me next to Aidan while Kristen and Olivia sat on either side of me.

"Maybe one day," I smirked.

"Wow. You suck." he pouted. I gave him a patronizing smile and he rolled his eyes. I looked over Jake's shoulder and was greeted by the sight of Zeke and Shauna as they approached our table.

"Four told us what happened this morning," Zeke looked as if he was suppressing a smirk and Shauna elbowed him in the side. "You okay?"

"I'm fine." I answered grimly. Jake shot me a nasty glare, upset that the two older Dauntless knew what he didn't.

"Since it seemed you've had a rough day," Shauna started, "we figured we treat you and your friends to a little treat." She smiled at us kindly, but I could tell by her tone that her 'treat' would probably end up with us in trouble.

"Oh yeah?" Aidan raised his eyebrow in question.

"Meet us on the roof in after you've finished eating," Zeke looked over his shoulder as Four walked towards us. "Make sure nobody sees you." As the last word made its way out of his mouth, him and Shauna turned on their heels, quickly making their way out of the dinning hall. They whisked past Four, not giving him a chance to ask what business they had talking to us.

Four shot me a confused look as he finally reached our table. I just shrugged my shoulders in response. Before he had a chance to bring up whatever it was he wanted to ask, I spoke first.

"Was it really necessary to tell them about the Eric thing this morning?" I gave him a dirty look and he returned it with a cold expression. That expression reminding me that he was my instructor, not brother, in public. Talking to him so casually was not something I should be doing, but seeing that I sass Eric all the time I'm sure Jake and the rest of them wouldn't find it out of place.

"I'm your instructor, I can do whatever I damn well please," he crossed his arms as he spoke. "I just wanted to come over here and ask if you learned your lesson about mouthing off to leaders?"

I chuckled and looked up at him. "Nah, I've been through worse. Eric's gonna have to step it up if he wants to do any damage."

I could physically see his jaw tense and anger line his features. I could tell he wanted to say something brotherly, but was bitting his tongue. Instead, he settled with, "Whatever. It's your funeral, Stiff." With that he turned away from us and walked off in the opposite direction.

I heard Jake sigh, but he said nothing as he got up and out of his seat. "Come on, Little Rebel. Let's go see what Zeke and Shauna have waiting for us." The rest of our group got to their feet and followed Jake as he led the way to the roof. I had never been to this part of the compound. I continuously looked over my shoulder, making sure no one noticed where we were going.

By the time we made it to the roof, the sun was setting off in the distance, causing the light to outline Zeke and Shauna as they stood ten or so feet from the edge. They waved us over and we complied. "Ah there they are." Shauna smiled.

I looked next to the two Dauntless member and saw several beers and a bottle of liquor. "Our welcome to Dauntless gift." The pair of them handed us each a bottle. Jake and Aidan began to drink from the brown bottles without second thought. It took Olivia and Kristen a moment before the gave in to the temptation and took a sip as well. I on the other hand, stood there staring at it.

"It's not gonna bite you," Zeke teased.

"I know that, Stupid," I looked between my friends and the bottle.

"I just feel like I'm gonna regret this decision tomorrow," I caved and took a swig from the bottle. The taste was bitter as it ran down my throat.

"Oh, you will," Shauna confirmed, laugher lining her words.

**XXX**

Several beers and a bottle of liquor later we all stumbled back to the dorms as Zeke and Shauna headed to their apartments. I'm not gonna lie, I had a blast, but the dizziness was not a welcomed feeling. Neither was the urge to vomit.

As Kristen, Olivia, and I made it to our beds, I dropped onto my mattress. "I knew I was gonna regret this…" The last thing I remembered was the giggle that my comment earned from the girls as I slipped into unconsciousness.

**XXX**

My head pounded as I threw another knife. It was low and off to the right. Holy shit I regretted last night. I'd never regretted anything more in my entire life up to this moment. As my brother stalked up and down the line of initiates he stopped next to me.

"What'd I tell you about your stance?" He kicked my feet together. If I wasn't burdened with a hangover, I might have kept my balance, but I nearly fell. He threw me a suspicious look. He leaned close to my face, looking at my bloodshot eyes. "You're hungover."

Shit. "No…"

"Are you serious right now?" he scolded me lowly. "Drinking during initiation will get your ass in serious trouble. Add the fact that you're throwing is pretty shitty right now will hurt your ranking in the long run."

"I'm fine! Leave me alone. I can do what I want in my spare time," I hissed back. "My throwing is still better than half the people in this room." This arguing was not helping my headache.

My brother continued to stand next to me as I threw. "Is there a problem here?" The knife slipped from my hand as someone spoke from behind me, startling me. The knife clanged against the floor as it bounced off the wooden target. "That was pathetic," Eric criticized.

"It slipped," I growled. It was his fault too.

"Well, go get it," he commanded. I looked at him like he had grown a second head.

"What? Why? It slipped!"

"Go. Get. It." His icy eyes bore into mine, sending a shiver down my spine. They were still in the process of throwing! I sighed, rolling my eyes, not wanting to argue.

"This is fucking ridiculous…" I muttered as I made my way down the range as confidently as possible. I picked up the stray knife when I reached the target. I turned, giving Eric a mocking smile and held it up to prove to him that I had grabbed it. "As a matter of fact, stay there and stand in front of the target."

"What?" I questioned. I swear to god I was temped to throw this knife at him.

"You heard me," I leaned again the target, my hands at the small of my back. "Everybody stop!" he shouted. The sound of knives hitting the wood and hitting the floor ceased. Eric picked up four knives from my table. "You're gonna stand there while I throw these knives at you," he announced. What? Had he lost his mind? "If you flinch, you're out." Great.

"Eric…" Four's jaw tensed. He didn't like this situation anymore than I did.

Eric ignored him and flipped one of the four knives in his hand. In one swift motion, he brought the knife up and sent it flying in my direction. My finger nails dug into the wood as it hit a few inches to the right of my head. I can't do this. I looked at my brother and he gave me an assuring nod. He pointing to himself, telling me silently to just focus on him, but I had another idea.

"Aw come on, Eric," I mocked. Four shook his head disapprovingly. But little did he know, that ruffling Eric feathers put my nerves at ease. Why? I don't know why, but it made me think about the comeback instead of the knives.

"Careful, Stiff," Eric smirked. He was enjoying this.

The second one he sent hurling stuck an inch from my head this time. "I don't think I have anything to worry about, to be honest," I smirked back.

"Learn," He threw the next one and it was less than an inch from my neck. "to keep your mouth shut, Stiff, before I shut it for you." I knew that where he wanted the knives to end up is where they hit. He was deliberately getting closer.

I didn't have a response this time, I just gave him a cocky smirked. I was terrified on the inside, but I refused to show him that. He flipped the last one in his hands a couple of times, like he was debating something in his head. He sent the last one flying towards me, but this time, I didn't have to look where it stuck, I felt it. He hit me on purpose.

I whimpered as the metal ripped through my side. I now had a half inch deep gash in my right side. I could feel a warm liquid start to run down my hip. I bit my lip, trying to keep quiet as I looked at Eric as he spoke. I couldn't let him see how much pain I was in.

"You need to watch yourself," Eric stated in a low tone of voice. "We train soldiers, not rebels," I just simply nodded, looking down at the blood that was now running down my leg. It was nothing serious, but it hurt like a bitch.

"We're done for today. Get out." And with that, the crowd of initiates turned and made their way out of the training room, Eric following them. I slid the knife out of me and the target, my blood staining it. My eyes lifted to see Eric passing a punching bag. I don't know why, but my blood began to boil and I threw the knife, not giving it a second thought.

The knife pierced the edge of the punching bag, barely a foot away from Eric's head. It was the closes I could get without the knife going airborne or actually hitting him. I watched him as he stopped in his tracks. I could tell he was surprised by my actions as his body tensed, but I didn't stick around to wait for his reaction as I made my way out of one of the side doors and to the infirmary.

* * *

**I hope you guys liked it! I'd love to hear what you guys think so feel free to leave a review or shoot me a PM! :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you guys for all the favorites and alerts! And thank you _Jessy Ann, Angi Marie, hugabunny12, leneah1, Divergentsixfourtobiastris, and HeartOfGold7 _for the reviews! They mean a lot to me guys and I love hearing all the feedback!**

**Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

I bursted through the doors of the infirmary fuming with anger. I can't believe he hit me. He fucking stabbed me on purpose! The medical staff all looked up from what they were doing with wide eyes. "A little help here?" I asked as blood continue to drip down my side. I was in no mood to be polite. A woman, a few years older than me, made her way over. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a neat ponytail, showing off the several piercings the lined her ears.

"What the hell happened to you, Initiate?" She followed the trail of blood up my leg and to my side.

"Eric." Was all we needed you say as a look of realization came across her features. This must not be the first time Dauntless' youngest leader had put someone in the infirmary.

She motioned for me to follow and I complied, following her to a room in the back. The white walls were lined with metallic metal equipment. There was a table in the middle covered was a long sheet of protective paper.

"Sit, Sweetie," she patted the table and I carefully maneuvered my way onto it, hoping to spare myself some pain. I wasn't successful as pain shot through my torso when I sat. "I need you to take your shirt off so I can look at it."

I looked at her hesitantly. I'd prefer if I didn't have to, but I didn't see an alternative. I lifted my shirt over my head, placing it down next to me. Her pretty features twisted into a frown as she inspected it.

"What's your name?" She handed me a towel so I could wipe the excess blood away.

"Alex." I stated.

"I'm Lizzy," Lizzy grabbed a pair of latex gloves from the counter behind her. She pulled them on with ease as she looked at me. "This is pretty deep. I'm gonna have to stitch it up." I just nodded in response. I forced back a chill from the cold air around me that my sports bra didn't protect me from.

She gathered all the materials she needed, giving me a shot in the side to numb the pain before she began. "So you want to tell me what happened?" I knew she was just trying to strike up a conversation to fill the room with anything but silence.

"Not really." It was nothing personal I was still pissed about what happened and I wasn't sure the complaining about it would make any difference.

"Well, you said it had something to do with Eric, right?" She pressed further with her questions as she continued to thread the needle through my skin. It didn't hurt. It fell strange though. It was as if I was broken and I was being sewn back together.

"He made me stand in front of the target as he threw knives at me," I said through gritted teeth.

"Eric's one of the best knife throwers Dauntless. There's no way he would've hit you unless…," she paused, she frowned as she connected the dots, "he hit you on purpose…"

"Exactly."

What she did next took me by surprise. She chuckled and shook her head. "Is that funny?" I asked confused. Last time I checked, stabbing someone was not something to laugh about.

"No! No, not at all. It's just very… Eric," She glanced back up at my face before continuing her stitching. She didn't speak with the same distain for Eric as everyone else did.

"Are you friends with him?" I didn't think he had any, to be honest.

"Yeah," She rolled her eyes. "I knew him back in his Erudite days. He was a handful back then too. And he's found even more violent ways of expressing himself," she smirked.

"You call this 'expressing himself'?" I looked down at my almost closed gash. Eric needs fucking therapy if he expresses his feelings by throwing knives at people.

"He's picking on you for a reason," It's probably because every time he talks to me I disrespect him in some way. Maybe its because for someone from Abnegation I've got a big mouth. Either way, I'm pretty sure what his reason was.

"Mouthing off to him doesn't call for knocking my ass out in a fight or stabbing me with an airborne knife," Did I deserve a punishment for my mouth? Yeah, most likely. But Eric always seemed to take shit to the extreme. It didn't mean that I was going to stop sassing him, it just meant that I was going to be wiser with picking times to do it.

"Eh, you never known with that man," Lizzy smiled as if she knew something that I didn't. What was there to know? Obviously there was something that Lizzy wasn't willing to share without persuasion.

"What's that look for?" I asked as she tied off the stitching.

"What look?" She turned away from me as she began to clean up her equipment, brushing my question off.

"That look that says you know something that I don't," I stared at the back of her head until she turned around to face me again.

"Did you know that Eric always used to pick on the girls that he liked in school? It was cute. He would never tell me who he liked, but I always knew when he did because he would always tease her and pick on her," she pulled off her gloves and tossed them in the trash.

"You're not saying…" I looked at her with wide eyes. There was no way in hell. Number one, I don't think Eric has a heart so it's not possible for him to 'like' anyone. Number two, you don't cause bodily harm to the person you're crushing on! What kind of fucking logic is that?

"I'm not saying anything," Lizzy held her hands up in defense. God, this was going to drive me insane now. There's no possible way… right? No. That's some fucked up logic. I think he's just an asshole. An asshole that likes to watch people suffer in pain. He's cruel and needs to be reminded that he's not as high and mighty as he might think.

I shook all consideration for Lizzy's theory out of my head as I heard a knock on the metal door frame. My anger that had dissolved over the last few minutes began to rise in my chest as my pulse began to drum in my ears. My face formed a scowl as I saw him standing in the doorway. I looked down at my lap, not wanting to look at him anymore.

Lizzy took the look on my face as her signal to bale. This was not where she wanted to be at the moment. I didn't blame her. "I'll give you guys a few minutes…" Lizzy said, slipping past him. Eric closed the door behind her, but instead of coming more into the room, he chose to lean against the door frame. It was silent for a few moments before I decided to say something.

"You're definitely the last person I want to deal right now, Eric," I ran my hands over my face before looking at him. His expression was stern, but his eyes weren't as cold as they usually were.

"I'm trying to help you," I saw his eyes drop to the newly stitched cut on my side and then his eyes wandered up the left side up my body, taking in the sight of my tattoo. I got real nervous real fast. I had totally neglected to realized that I still didn't have a shirt on.

"Help me?" I looked at him, astonished. "Stabbing me is not fucking helpful. It's actually painful and infuriating. And a dick move, by the way."

"I'm trying to teach you how keep that mouth of yours closed! This isn't Candor, you can't say what you want, whenever you want to say it." His words weren't harsh, but genuine. "You'd have it a lot worse if it wasn't me you talked back to. I'm trying to get you to realize that you're gonna say the wrong thing to the wrong person and you're gonna end up dead one day."

"Why do you care?" I shot back. He got up off the wall and took a few steps in my direction. He put his hands on the edge of the table as he leaned on it. I could tell by the look on his face that he thought carefully about his next words.

"Because I see potential, that's why." Bullshit. I rolled my eyes and looked away from him. "Hey, look at me when I'm taking to you," I ignored him. "Alex," I couldn't help but turn at the sound of my name. "If you keep questioning me in front of the others I have no choice but to punish you." His tone was much softer that I had ever heard it. It was still stern, but not demeaning like usual. It surprised me.

"Well, maybe I couldn't question you if you didn't deserve to be questioned," I crossed my arms over my chest.

His jaw tensed and I could tell that my answer was not what he wanted to hear. "God, you're so stubborn…" he muttered, mainly to himself. "It's just gonna get worse from here if you don't stop," he threatened.

"I've been through worse," I retorted.

"Whatever." His harsh tone was back. He turned to leave, but stopped as he opened the door. "Nice throw, by the way." And with that, he left me alone in the empty room.

* * *

**I hope you guys liked it! I'd love to hear what you guys think so feel free to leave a review or shoot me a PM! :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Thank you guys so much for all the alerts and favorites. And thank you _Jessy Ann_ and_ HeartOfGold7 _for the reviews!**

**Hope you guys like!**

* * *

The next few days went by somewhat smoothly. I hadn't really spoken to Eric since our conversation in the infirmary. He had pointed out the flaws in my interpretation of the combat methods that Four had began to teach us, but that was it. I caught myself looking at him more often than usual. His softer tone still echoing in my head. Maybe he wasn't as cold as people thought.

Our training routine had only slightly changed. Instead of shooting in the morning and knife throwing in the afternoon, now it was both in the morning and combat training in the afternoon. We would have an hour or so of instruction from Four and then he would send us to the bright orange punching bags to practice.

Today, unfortunately, was the first day of actual fighting. We were told that our performance would weigh heavily on how we were going to be ranked during the first phase. No pressure, right?

"Who do you think they're going to pair us up against?" Olivia asked Kristen and I as she walked beside us. I could tell she was nervous, but I couldn't blame her. Her fighting over the couple of days hadn't been great, but coming from Amity, it was expected. She should still make the cut though.

"I don't know to be honest," I shrugged as we walked into the training room after lunch. Knowing Eric, I was expecting the worst. My fighting had surprisingly been pretty good. My brother was astounded at this fact, but didn't expect anything less. He told me that he too had caught on pretty fast at the fighting aspect of training during initiation, so it was only expected that I did as well. He said it was probably due to the fact that we were trained to pay close attention to the things we were taught when we were younger due to our overbearing father.

Our trio was the first to return to the training room. Eric stood with his back to us as he paired names together on the chalkboard. I couldn't see my name yet so I turned my attention to Four, who was cleaning up some of the knives from earlier. I excused myself from the girls and made my way over to him.

Without a word, I began to help him clean up the scattered knives. It felt so natural and familiar. It reminded me of when we used to wash the dishes after supper. It was something I always looked forward to at the end of the day. We would just work together, sometimes in silence, sometimes in conversation. We would talk about our day and other little things.

After I had gathered so many knives that I had no room left in my hands, I looked up at him, giving him all the metal that I had collected. He gave me a thankful, yet grim look.

"What is it?" I asked, just barely loud enough for him to hear. I followed his eyes as he looked over my shoulder. I briefly caught sight of a scowl that was firmly planted on Eric's face before he turned away from us.

"He's having you fight Seth," My eyes dragged across the chalkboard, searching for my name. Sure enough, just as Four said, it was paired with Seth's. I was good, but Seth was better. And bigger. And stronger. I was fucked. "Watch his eyes," Four pulled my attention away from the board as he spoke.

"Huh?"

"Seth. He looks at the exact point he's about to aim for. It's one of his major flaws in his fighting. Use it to your advantage when you're defending yourself." Four looked around, making sure no one was paying too much attention to us.

I nodded as we finished collecting all the fallen knives. I made my way back over to the group of initiates that had started to trickle in over the past five or so minutes. My eyes found Seth as he entered the room. I sized him from head to toe. He was at least a foot taller than me and I knew for a fact that he would love nothing more then to finish what he started months ago. I didn't have Jake to protect me from him now.

I noticed as his eyes found his name on the chalkboard he immediately turned to seek me out. When his eyes found mine, he gave me a wickedly cruel smile. My breath caught in my throat. He would enjoy this more than he should. He wasn't going to let me conceded. He was going to keep going until he knocked me completely unconscious.

"Listen up," Eric's voice quieted the conversations between initiates. "As you know, today is the first day you will be scored on your combat skills against your fellow initiates," I looked at Four as Eric proceeded. "You'll fight until one of you can't continue."

"Or one of you concedes," Four chirped in.

"According to the old rules. The new rules, is that no one concedes. A brave man never surrenders," Eric's cold grey eyes found mine. He slightly smirked. That's when I knew he pinned me against Seth on purpose. He wanted to see me suffer at the hands of the Candor boy. But why?

The smirk on his face quickly disappeared as Four said something to him in a hushed tone that obviously pissed him off. He shook off Four's comment and focused back on the group of initiates in front of him. "Mathew. Kristen. You're up first." Mathew was the other Amity boy that had transferred over with Olivia. He was tall and had broad shoulders, but I could tell by the look on his face that he wasn't keen on having to fight Kristen. His blue eyes hid behind his blond bangs as he made his way through the crowd.

"Wish me luck," Kristen sighed as she made her way to the raised platform that I had fought Eric on not too long ago.

To be honest, it was a good fight. Kristen definitely almost had Mathew on more than one occasion, but in the end, Kristen ended up on the mat conscious due to a swift and powerful blow to the chin. My heart sank as I saw my friend laid out on the mat like that. It sank a little more at the sight of Mathew's guilt ridden face.

After a minute or so, Kristen came to and Four helped her to her feet. He told Mathew to take her to the infirmary so that they could both get checked out.

"Seth. Alex. You're up." My eyes shot up to meet Four's. He gave me a reassuring nod as I walked to platform, standing face to face with Seth. My heart began to pound a little bit harder as Eric gave the go ahead. All my previous confidence in my fighting ability flew out the door as Seth gave me that sickly wicked smile.

"You scared, Stiff?" Seth mocked as we began to circle each other. "You don't have your little Dauntless boyfriend to protect you anymore, do ya?" I saw his eyes focus on the left side of my face. He swung, but I knew it was coming thanks to my brother's intel. I diverted his fist and his smirk turned into a scowl. "I'm gonna finish what I should have finished then," he growled.

I threw a punch, but he deflected it easily. He returned my offensive action and his fist connected with my nose before I had a chance to look at his eyes. I felt blood begin to drip from my nose. I stumbled and before I had a chance to regain my composer he kicked me in the gut, bringing me to my knees. I wanted to vomit at the impact of his foot. He brought up his foot to connect it with my face, but I ducked, sticking my leg out to knock him off his feet. He fell backward onto his back with a _thud. _I jumped back up to my feet, bringing my leg back and kicking him as hard as I could into his side multiple times. By the third time, he grabbed my leg and knocked me off balance.

This time, I was on the ground. He straddled my hips and brought his fist to my face once again. I brought my hands up to defend my face, trying to think of a way out of this. I brought knee to my chest and kicked him in the groin, just as I did Eric. Seth was slower to get up compared to Eric. I wiggled my way from under him and made sure that when he got up that I was behind him. As much as it pained me to do so, I was going to take a page out of Eric's book.

I jumped onto Seth's back as he got up, wrapping my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck. Before he realized what I was doing, I got the choke hold locked in. He squirmed and squirmed, trying to pry my fingers apart, but I was holding on like my life depended on it. I slowly felt him begin to fade as his body became heavy under me and he sank to his knees. I released him as his body fell to the floor. He didn't move once he hit the mat. I did it. I beat him.

My veins filled with lead as the adrenaline began to dissipate. I waved Four away as he came to check on me. His face was cold, but his eye were filled with concern. I staggered a little as I made my way away from Seth's unconscious body. Unlike Mathew, I felt no guilt whatsoever. I wiped the blood from my nose as I looked around the room. My eyes found just the man I was looking for and I dragged my tired body in the young leader's direction.

"Why did you put me up against him?" I hissed as I came face to face with Eric. It wasn't loud enough for the others to hear, I made sure of that.

"Next time," he gave me a smug smirk. "think twice before you decide to throw a knife at me." Ugh! What a hypocrite! What an asshole. That happened days ago. I was sure that if he was going to get back at me for that he would have done it right then and there, not out of the blue days later.

"I've still got stitches in my side thanks to you and _I'm _the one who needs to think twice about throwing knives at people?" My voice was still hushed, but the edge in them was sharp enough to compete with that of a knife. "You're un-fucking-believable."

"I'll take that as a compliment," he patronized, his smug smirk never leaving his face. A scowled made its way to my features as I rolled my eyes and brushed past him.

Once I was out of the training room, I wasn't sure where to go. I didn't want to go to the infirmary because I knew that's where they took Seth and the last thing I wanted to do was be in the same room as him.

I walked a little ways down the hall and sat along the cool wall. The icy feeling of the stone sent a shiver up my spine, but the frigid surface was welcome as it iced my achy muscles. I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the wall. I'm not sure how long I had been sitting there, but a little while later I heard a set of foot steps approach me. I was too comfortable to care who it was and didn't bother to look up.

I finally pried open my eyes as I felt their body heat next to me as they slid down the wall. I smiled at the sight of the familiar face .

"Well you look like hell," Jake said as he examined my face.

"You really know how to make a girl feel good about herself, don't you?" I chuckled. I felt a warm sensation drip down my right side. I looked down and saw a dark patch of liquid in my shirt. I popped my stitches. Great. "I'm guessing you won your fight, seeing that you seem perfectly fine besides that nasty shiner."

"Yeah, I had to fight Dean," I knew Dean. As a matter of fact, I was friends with him. Dean wasn't nearly as fast as Jake so I wasn't surprised to hear that Jake pulled out a win. "Who'd you go up against?"

"Seth," Jake didn't seemed to recognize the name. "That stupid Candor boy you saved me from." Jake's eyes grew wide.

"Are you kidding me? Who paired you two up?" Jake seemed completely taken back by the fact that I was matched up with Seth.

"Eric."

Jake sighed and shook his head. "I told you that all the mouthing off you did would come back to bite you in the ass," I knew it would. I just didn't want to admit to Jake that he was right.

"I won though, so I'm sure that threw a wrench in his little plan for me to get the shit beat out of me," It would have been much more satisfying if I hadn't used one of Eric's methods to beat him, but hey, a wins a win.

"Congrats, but that's not the point," Jake frowned. "Now I'm not saying that you should kiss his ass, but just stay off Eric's radar for a while, yeah?"

"Ha! That's not gonna happen. It's to late to steer clear of that asshole now. Not only am I on his radar, but I'm dead smack in the center of his sights."

* * *

**I hope you guys liked it! I'd love to hear what you guys think so feel free to leave a review or shoot me a PM! :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Thank you guys so much for the favorites and alerts! And thank you _HeartOfGold, AvesCallaghan, _and_ Jessy_ _Ann_ for the reviews!**

**I kind of wanted to show that just because Alex acts all tough doesn't necessarily mean she is. Plus, I wanted to get a little more Four in there :P **

**Hope you guys like!**

* * *

"Just conceded. Please, Kristen. Don't make me do this," I begged as I stood over her. Her face was covered in blood from the cut over her eyebrow, her bloody nose and busted tested lip. I didn't want to do. I can't. I was never expecting to have to fight one of my friends, I never wanted to, but I didn't have a choice. I couldn't afford to lose my second fight.

"I'm sorry. You have too," She tried to sit up on her elbows as she wiped blood from her eyes. The irony in her words hurt. Here I was, standing over her after giving her a beating and she was apologizing. For the first time since my blood dripped onto the burning coal I questioned my choice in choosing Dauntless. I brought my foot up and reluctantly smashed it into the side of her face, causing her body to go limp on the mat.

I looked down at my bloody hands, ashamed. "Winner; Alex." Eric announced. "You're free to go," he spoke to everyone in the room. "We're done for today." I didn't look at him as I brushed past him towards the door.

"Alex!" I heard Four call, but I ignored him as I hurried out of the training room. I didn't know where I was going, I just knew I couldn't stay in there as I watched them carry Kristen's unconscious body to the infirmary. It was selfish that I was only focusing on my pain and not her's, but then again, there was a reason I wasn't Abnegation anymore.

My ears filled with the sound of rushing water as I approached the chasm. If there was one place that I could drowned out my thoughts, it would be here. I navigated over the uneven and wet rocks, sitting on the edge. I looked down, the harsh water rushing into the abyss. I wish I could disappear just like the water did. I didn't want to be in my right mind right now. I wish I could swap places with Kristen, but I can't. I'm Alex Eaton, the victor, and I have to deal with what I've done to one of my closes friends.

I looked down at the red on my hands. I rubbed them together, trying to get rid of the stick substance, but didn't secede. I rubbed harder and harder, but to no avail. Having Kristen's blood on my hands made me stick. My eyes began to water no matter how hard I tried to fight it.

"You're not gonna jump, are you?" I jumped slightly at the sound of his voice. The noise of the water prevented me from hearing him come up behind me. My hands clenched together, feeling the blood squish between my fingers.

"Why would you care?" I nearly choked. Eric ignored my warning as he made his way over the wet rocks. I wiped the wetness from my eyes with my arm and stood. He stopped when he was a few feet away from me.

"Well, personally, I wouldn't, but if Max found out an initiate jumped under my watch he'd have my ass," I rolled my eyes at his reply.

"I'm so not in the mood for this right now," I groaned. I went to walk past him, but his hand shot out and grabbed my wrist, stopping me in my tracks.

"This," Eric motioned to my grief stricken face and puffy eyes. "isn't gonna cut it in Dauntless. Get your shit together or you won't make it here."

I yanked my arm out of his grasp. "Don't touch me," I hissed. "If there's one reason why I won't make it here is because you're driving me fucking insane!"

"You'll thank me for this later down the road. I'm helping you. I'm-" I cut him mid-sentence.

"That's bullshit! Enough of this 'helping me' crap. You just want to see me squirm and suffer at your hand and I don't understand why…" I looked away from him and at the rocks beneath my feet.

"You deserved everything that I've put you through," he retorted.

"Why?" I looked up and met his grey eyes. "Because I don't know how to keep my mouth shut, right? Because I have the balls to say what other people don't? Because I remind you of the fact that you're not as high and mighty as you might think?"

"Enough!" He barked. I could see his anger begin to rise through his facial features. "You have no filter between your brain and your mouth, do you?"

"I guess not," I snarled.

He sighed and ran his hand over his face, looking annoyed. "I'm done with this conversation." He turned to leave as I spoke.

"Wow I definitely wouldn't categorize that as a fucking conversation," he ignored me as he began to make his way back up the water laced stones. "That was like shouting at a goddamn brick wall."

Once Eric was out of sight, I too made my way back up the slippery rocks. My feet pulled me towards the direction of the training room. I was sure that everyone would have gone by now. When I entered the room I was met with only the presence of one other person; my brother.

He looked up at me and frowned. "I'm sorry you had to do that," he put down the broom in his hands and motioned for me to sit on a nearby bench with him. I did just that, resting my head on his shoulder.

"I didn't have a choice," was all I said as I looked down at the now dried blood on my hands. Four noticed this and stood.

"I'll be right back," I nodded. He walked off, but I didn't really pay attention to where he was going. He returned a few minutes later with a wet rag in his hands.

He sat back down next to me, taking my hands in his. The red began to transfer from my fingers to the rag. "It reminded me of Marcus," I admitted.

"What did?" he questioned.

"Having that power over her. It reminded me of when he used to… you know, beat us. Except, I was in his shoes this time around," I choked. "I hated that feeling, because I know that's what he must have felt when he…" I thought making the switch to Dauntless would mean that I had escaped him forever, but I was wrong. He still haunted my thoughts, my feelings.

"You're nothing like him and you never will be. He had a choice, you didn't. You can't let this get to you. It'll wreck you." Four moved to the other hand. His voice was so calm and reassuring. It put my nerves at ease.

"Yeah, I know." I sighed.

"I noticed that Eric followed you out," Four mentioned. I really didn't want to talk about it.

"Did he?" I tried to act as if I hadn't notice.

"This is why you don't belong in Candor," he chuckled. "You're shit at lying."

I smiled at his comment. "To say the least I wasted my time talking to a brick wall,"

"That's Eric for you," Four put the rag next to him as he finished with my hands, but didn't let go of them. "Hate is a strong word, but I've never disliked anyone more than I dislike Eric."

"Why?" I was curious about the animosity between the two.

"He did and said some shit that crossed a very clearly drawn line," Four said vaguely. I could tell that that was all I was going to get out of him.

"Why does that not surprise me?" I laughed. I don't know why I found that funny. Maybe it was because I could relate to it.

Four smiled at me and got to his feet, pulling me up along with him. "Come on, let's go get something to eat." At the mention of food I realized just how hungry I was.

"Maybe after I go see Kristen…"

"No, we're going to go eat now because sitting next to her in the infirmary sulking isn't going to help anything or anyone." My brother gave me a stern look, letting me know that there was no room for argument.

"Okay, okay." I caved and followed him the direction on the door as we made our way to the dinning hall.

**XXX**

The walk the dinning hall was silent, but a comfortable silent. Four held the door open for me as I walked in before him. The volume of the chatter hit me like a wave as I transitioned from the quiet journey to the thriving room. Our entrance went relatively unnoticed due to the amount of other actives and people in the room. I scanned the room for any familiar faces and was happy to find Olivia, Jake, and Aidan at a table off to the far left.

I followed Four to the buffet of food and began stacking my plate. As we reached the halfway point of the food line, Four nudged me in the side to get my attention. My focus shifted from my growing pile of food to him.

"I don't know what you said to him earlier, but since we walked through those doors he hasn't taken his eyes off you," His tone had sifted from his calm and familiar one to one with a protective undertone to it.

"Huh?" I wasn't quite sure what he was talking about.

"Eric," He said sharply. "He's been giving me a hell of a dirty look too." I wasn't even aware that Eric was in the dinning hall. Trying to look as causal as possible, I turned slightly to look over my shoulder. My eyes found Eric's as he sat at a table with Max and the rest of the leader's. Once he realized that he had my attention he scowled and turned back to his fellow leaders. What's his deal?

"I honestly don't know what his problem is. I wish he would just leave me the hell alone. It would make my life a hell of a lot easier," I complained as I turned back to Four. We had reached the end of the line and began to walk towards the tables.

"I think Eric's sole purpose in life is to make other people's lives more difficult then they have to be," he smirked.

"Tell me about in," I chuckle in agreement. "I'm headed over to Jake, Olivia, and Aidan. Wanna sit with us?" I knew it was a long shot, but what the hell.

"I'm sorry, I can't," he frowned. "Instructor, remember?"

I nodded as he head towards Zeke and Shauna, who waved in my direction. I waved back as I sat across from Jake. I greeted the gang, but my attention pulled my mind elsewhere. My eyes found Eric as he got up from his seat at the leader's table and made his way out of the dinning hall.

I didn't understand him and like I said, it drove me insane. Sometimes, I wish I could just crack his skull open and see what makes him tick. I wish I could read the thoughts that ran through his head and what drives him to do the things he does.

"Alex?" Olivia waved her hand in front of my face.

"Sorry," I mumbled, as I turned my attention back to my friends.

* * *

**I hope you guys liked it! I'd love to hear what you guys think so feel free to leave a review or shoot me a PM! :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Thank you guys for all the favorites and alerts!**

* * *

That night after dinner I snuck away from our dorms and made my way to the training room. I was happy to discover that the doors hadn't been locked as I made my way in. I walked over to the punching bags and began to stretch my muscles. As much as I wanted to jump right into blowing off some steam, pulling something while doing it would just be flat out embarrassing.

Once I felt that I had gotten in my share of stretching, I got to work. From hooks to jabs to kicks, I went over everything, hitting as hard as possible. Not soon after, I was drenched in sweat. I peeled off my shirt as it clung to my body. I was left in just a sports bra, but felt much better now that I wasn't restricted by the wet material. I took a quick drink from the water bottle that I had brought with me before turning back to the bright orange bag.

I had maybe landed a dozen or so hits before I heard the training room door opened. I planned to just ignore who it was, but was forced to acknowledged them when they spoke.

"You're not gonna win like that," the voice sounded familiar, but I was hoping it wasn't who I thought it was.

"Excuse me?" My voice made it clear that I was somewhat offended by the comment. I turned to see who the owner of the voice was.

"You're not putting your whole body into it," Eric commented. His voice had a little edge to it and his face was void of emotion.

"Why are you here?" I asked, ignoring his previous statement. He made his way over to one of the benches and picked up a bundle of black material.

"I forgot my jacket." He said flatly. Instead of making his way out of the room like I expected him to do, he began to walk in my direction. I rolled my eyes and looked back to the punching bag.

I took a few punches as he finally got to me. I tried to block him out, but his presence was a distraction. I continued to throw punches as I saw him place his jacket down from the corner of my eye. Once his jacket hit the floor, he came closer to me, a little too close. As my fist set out to make contact with the bag once again, Eric's hands found my mid-section and lower back. His hands were cold, but my skin burned at the contact.

"You need to keep your core tense," he informed me. I wanted to say something slick back, but my mind was blank for once. "Put your whole body into it," he mimicked the motion by twisting my torso with his hands.

I could feel his breath the side of my face. I swallowed hard and looked up meet his eyes, but they weren't where I thought they would be. He was looking further down my face, at my lips. He was so close... His eyes shot up and connected with mine.

His hands dropped from my torso and he stepped away, dropping eye contact. "I don't understand you," I blurted out. His eyes met mine again as I continued. "You come in here like… like this, but not even an hour ago you were sending me some pretty nasty looks in the dinning hall."

"Those looks weren't directed at you."

"Then who were-," It clicked as soon as the words left my mouth. I was only with one other person. "Four? Why?"

"Don't worry about it," he shot my question down as he turned away from me and grabbed his jacket off of the floor.

"Aww is someone jealous?" I teased. Of course he wasn't, but that doesn't mean I couldn't pester him with it. He rolled his eyes as he faced me.

"I'm not jealous." He took a few steps closer to me.

"Oh really?" I pushed on.

"I don't need to be jealous, because in the end, I always get what I want," he smirked as he turned away from me and made his way out of the training room before my mind could process what he had just said.

_"I don't need to be jealous, because in the end, I always get what I want." _What exactly did he want? That was the question that I couldn't seem to find an answer to.

I cringed as the sound of metal on metal rang in my ears. My head had literally just hit the pillow. Flashlights shined in our faces as we were woken up. "Let's go initiates! Get up!" I instantly recognized the voice as Eric's. My eyes quickly found him standing next to my brother who had a metal pipe in his hand. I tossed the sheets off me and stood, running my hand over my face.

"What the hell?" I complained as I glared at Eric. He had changed his clothes since I had last seen him in training room not too long ago.

"We're going on a little field trip," he smirked. Something about the smirk told me that this wouldn't be an ordinary 'field trip'.

"You have five minutes to get dressed and meet us by the tracks," Four announced as the him and Eric made their exit.

I saw Olivia out of the corner of my eye roll out of bed sleepily, nearly falling on her face. I chuckled as I pulled on a pair of pants and my combat boots. I had not time to do my hair so I quickly pulled it up into a high ponytail. "Come on, Liv."

"Leave me be," she grumbled as she changed into a different shirt and pants. We quickly finished getting ready and headed for the tracks. It felt strange, just me and Olivia. Kristen was still in the infirmary thanks to me. I had seen her just after I left the training room. She looked better, put the nurses wanted to keep her over night.

I was surprised to find Jake and Aidan along with he other Dauntless-Born waiting at the tracks when we got there.

"Where the hell are they having us go this late?" I questioned the two Dauntless boys as Olivia and I finally reached them. My question was met with a grin by both boys.

"Let's just call it… a Dauntless tradition," Jake vaguely answered.

"You're useless," I huffed. Sometimes I wasn't sure why I was friends with these two.

The boys chuckled as a train horn sounded in the distance. It didn't take long for the train to reach us, making us sprint to catch up with it. We swung ourselves into the cars with ease. The group of initiates mixed as he gathered in the the train car.

My eyes found Eric as he and Four climbed into the car. His words from earlier still rung in my head. _'I don't need to be jealous, because in the end, I always get what I want.' _Once again, Eric had manage to keep the gears in my head spinning as I tried to decipher the meaning behind his words and actions.

My attention was drawn away from Eric and to Four as he dropped a black bag in the middle of the train car. The conversations that echoed around me faded as they waited to hear him speak.

"The game is simple, it's like capture the flag," Four crouched down and opened the sack, revealing some awkwardly shaped guns. The guns I was used to seeing had muscle and bulk, these looked like a pile of bones compared to them.

"Weapon of choice," Eric held up the gun in his hand, showing everybody.

"You call that a gun?" I whispered to Jake. I must have said it louder than I had anticipated because Eric's eyes shot over in my direction. Before I realized what he was doing he had cocked the gun, aiming it at me. He pulled the trigger and I yelped as pained shot through my leg. Jake caught me before I could drop to the ground. I clenched my jaw shut as the sheering pain made it's way through my thigh. Jesus Christ! He fucking shot me!

Eric took a few steps forward and leaned over me, pulling the dart from my leg. He looked up at me and smirked. I swear if looks could kill, he would have been dead 3 times over.

"Nero sim dart," he held the little metal dart up for the other initiates to see, "simulates the painof a real gun shot would."

"No shit," I muttered as Jake helped me to my feet. My leg still hurt like a bitch, but I could feel the effects of the dart fading.

"It only lasts a couple of minutes," he informed us, sounding a little disappointed as he shot a glare my way. "Two teams, Four and I are captains."

"You pick first," Four insisted.

"Okay," Eric looked around the at the initiates surrounding him. "I'll take the Stiff."

"Oh come on," I complained. Eric sent a dirty look my way, but I brushed it off as I pouted. I wanted to be on my brother's team, not Eric's. I didn't want to have to spend anymore time dealing with that asshole any longer then I had to. Plus, I wanted to spend time with my brother, even if he was technically my instructor in this environment.

I bit down on my lip ring as they went through the list of transfers. Olivia ended up with Four and so did Seth. If I forced to be on the same team as Seth I would take one of those darts in the head. After they had finished with the transfers, they moved on to the Dauntless-born.

"Jake," Four picked. My lip piercing was left alone, my mouth twisted into a frown as my best friend was placed on the opposite team.

"Aidan," Aidan slung his arm across my shoulder and I smiled. At least I wouldn't be dealing with Eric alone. I was confused as I saw Eric scowl at the sight of affection between me and Aidan. Four and Eric spent the next minute or so building their teams from the Dauntless-born.

Once they were done, Eric sent a smug smile in Four direction. "You can get off second."

"Don't do me any favors. You know I can win without them," Four replied.

"I'm not doing you any favors, you'll lose no matter when you get off," The competitiveness between the two made me smirk for some reason. "Take your team and get off first then." And with that, Four and his team began to leap from the train car and disappear off in the darkness.

"This is gonna be interesting," Aidan said lowly as he looked around the train car. The transfers we had included Mathew, Nathan, Luke, Paul, and myself. Out of the Dauntless-born, we had Aidan, Dean, Adam, and another girl that I didn't recognize.

"You can say that again," I sighed, looking over at our team captain.

* * *

**I hope you guys liked it! I'd love to hear what you guys think so feel free to leave a review or shoot me a PM! :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry, its been so long since I've updated. I went out of town for a few days and didn't take my computer with me. I missed a few days of school too so when I got back I was so busy with make-up work that I didn't have a chance to write .**

**Thank you to all the favorites and alerts! And thank you _leneah1_, _ScarletPuppy8_3, _HeartOf Gold7_, _hugabunny12_, and _PotatosGonnaPotate_ for the reviews!**

**And just to clear things up, Eric doesn't know that Alex is Four's sister.**

**Hope you guys like it ^.^**

* * *

I leaned out of the train car as we waited for Eric's cue to jump. The darkness swallowed everything in sight. I could barley make out the outline of the trees as they whipped by. My attention was drawn to Aidan as he came up next to me.

"We have to win this," I smiled.

"Oh trust me, I know. We'll never hear the end of it from Jake and Olivia if we lose," he joked. There was that, and also the fact that I wanted to beat my older brother. I would never let him live the loss down and vice versa.

I was about to respond to Aidan when suddenly I was shoved from behind and sent flying out of the train car. I tried to hit the ground running, but tripped and stumbled face first into the dirt and gravel. Pain pulsed through my palms thanks to the new scrapes I had received. As I pushed myself up from the dirt, I heard the rest of my team exit from the train. Aidan appeared at my side as I stood up.

"What the fuck?" I snarled. I wanted to know who the hell did that. There was no one on my team that I would expect that from.

"That's what happened when you're hanging out of a train and not paying attention to your surroundings," I heard Eric say as he stepped through the group of initiates. Of course it was Eric. He ignored my dirty look as he began to lead the way.

"You okay?" Aidan asked as I brushed the dirt off me. I nodded and began to follow Eric and the other initiates. My fist clenched as I stared at the back of Eric's head. I was pissed that he had embarrasses me like that, but there wasn't anything that I could do about it, at least not at the moment.

"So, what's the plan, _Captain_?" I asked.

Eric pulled a glowing green flag from his pocket and unfolded it. "We need to hide this where Four's team won't find it. Where we hide it and what we do after that is all up to you guys," he announced to the team.

I looked around for a sufficient hiding place. Where we were looked like run-down fair ground so there had to be plenty of nooks and crannies that we could stash the flag in. My wandering eyes stopped at the fun house that was about 100 yards away. "There," I pointed to it and my teammate's eyes followed the direction of my finger. "The fun house."

"Adam," Eric held out the flag out to him and nodded in the direction of the fun house. Adam, understanding what Eric wanted, grabbed the flag and took off in the direction of the attraction. I was surprised that Eric didn't question my choice in hiding place.

"I say when Adam gets back, we break up into two groups; offense and defense," Dean suggested.

"We need people to scout first," Aidan objected. I agreed. We needed to know where to go first.

"Fine, Aidan take Paul with you and go scout. But make it quick," Eric instructed. I sent a pleading look in Aidan's direction. I didn't want to have to deal with Eric without him, not after he already shot me and pushed me out of a moving train within this past hour. Aidan gave me an apologetic look and mouthed 'sorry' before he took off with Paul.

"Instead of splitting us in half, we can just leave two behind to guard and the rest can go. We have a better chance at getting the flag if there's more of us there," It was me that made the suggestion this time. I looked at Eric, expecting him to shoot it down.

"Sounds like a plan," Eric agreed. "Rebecca and Amity will stay behind," Eric stated, referring to Mathew and the Dauntless-born girl. Mathew looked like he wanted to argue about the job he was assigned, but did something I would't be able to do, he kept his mouth shut.

We stood there, some of us engaging in small talk for the next minute or so as we waited for Aidan and Paul to return. Adam had rejoined us as we saw Aidan and Paul running towards us in the distance. Once the boys reached us, they spilled all the information they had acquired.

"Their flag is at the top of the clock tower," Paul huffed.

"Let's go then," and with that, Eric took off at a fast pace towards the clock tower. I had to jog to keep up with Eric as he determinately marched to our target. When we were nearly there, Eric stopped so everyone could catch up.

"Aidan and Paul, you'll take the rear," Eric commanded. "Luke and Adam the left side, Dean and Nathan the right. Me and the Stiff will take the front," I shot Aidan a look due to that last part. Jesus Christ, why can I never seem to get away from him?

"The six of you will attack head on first, then we'll head up the tower while they're distracted with you," No one argued with Eric's plan. We all nodded, but none of us moved. "Why are you still standing here?" he barked.

Our team scattered in their assigned directions. I was left standing alone in the dark with Eric. I could feel the tension between us as we stood there in silence. The silence wasn't awkward though. I was almost comfortable.

"Why did you pick me?" I asked, breaking the silence.

"Pick you for what?" Eric looked off into the darkness, waiting for the shots that had yet to come.

"To come with you. There was definitely more capable people on this team to retrieve the flag," I stated.

"It was your plan," he answered simply. No, there had to be more to that. I opened my mouth to argue with this answer, but was interrupted by the exchange of fire in the distance. Eric and I took that as our cue and headed closer to the clock tower, guns up and ready to fire.

We reached the tree line that was about 50 yards away from the tower before we were spotted. "There's two more over there!" It sounded like Jake.

Eric, without hesitation, pulled me behind a tree as they started firing. I was pressed up against him as I heard multiple darts hit the bark. His breathing was heavy as I looked up at him.

"What now?" We were trapped behind this tree and had no way of getting over to the tower.

"You go and I'll cover you," he decided after a moment.

"What? There's no way-" I began to argued before he cut me off. He couldn't rest the fate of this team on me. No way in hell.

"You asked me why I brought you with me, this is why. Because I know when push comes to shove you'll get the job done. You'll get it, I know you will," his encouraging words took me off guard. I never expected to hear something like that come from Eric. "Now, go!"

He slightly shoved me away from him and from the safety of the tree, forcing me to take off towards the tower. I heard darts whiz past me as I closed the space between me and my destination. Pain shot through my arm as I was hit, but it wasn't nearly as bad as the one Eric had sent into my leg. I kept running and pried the door to the tower open. I quickly closed it and caught my breath.

Once I felt the pain in my arm begin to edge away and my breathing slow, I began my trek up the stairs. I sprinted up the steps and was greeted with a burning ache in my legs, but kept going. I was met with a metal hatch and carefully opened it, not knowing what to expect from the other side. I peeked inside, but it seemed to be empty. The glowing orange flag was just a few feet away. Only when I was fully in the room did I realize that I was wrong.

"So, they sent the Stiff?" I turned around to locate the owner of the voice. Seth stepped out of the shadows, gun pointed straight at me.

"No, they sent the only girl they know that can kick your ass," I snapped. He continued to step closer, one of his nasty little smirks on his face.

"You just got lucky," If he just came a little bit closer… just like I hoped, he took a few more steps in my direction. Bingo.

"Oh yeah?" I swiftly kicked the gun out of his hands and then aimed mine at him. He recovered quicker than I thought and knocked the gun away from me. Shit.

I lunged for him and tackled him to the floor, my fist connecting with his face a few times. He shoved me off of him and I slid across the room. I felt something metal up against my side and was happy to learn that it was my gun. I quickly grabbed it and tried to find Seth.

Unfortunately, Seth had the same idea and I was met with the barrel of his gun. We pulled our triggers simultaneously. I saw Seth drop to the ground with a dart to the chest.

I yelped as pain shot through my neck and down my spine, spreading to the rest of my body. I caught my balance on a nearby table, knowing that if I went down I wasn't likely to get back up. I pulled the dart out of my neck at tossed it in Seth's direction.

I mustered up what energy I had left and lunged for the flag that was a mere 3 feet away. I felt my fingers clamp down on the fabric as I crumpled to the floor. A new pulse of pain throbbed through my body as my grip on the flag tighten. This pain was far worse than that of the shot to my arm or leg. That pain focused on a single limp. This pain flooded my body as it trickled down my spine and to all four of my limps. The serum that simulated the pain of a bullet wound was spreading through my whole body.

I tried to fight the tears, but I felt my eyes begin to water. I heard Seth yelp in pain not far from me as another shot went off. Someone leaned over me and I could just make out their face through my blurred vision. "I got it," I choked.

"I knew you would," Eric smirked. There was a look in his eyes that I'd never seen before. A look of pride. That look made all of this worth it. "You get hit?" All I could do was nod. "Can you walk?"

That was a good question. Eric tried to help me to my feet, both the flag and my gun grasped tightly in my hands. Just as I thought my feet were sold under me, they gave way. Eric caught me before I hit the ground and scooped me up in his arms. I curled into his chest as he carried me bridal style out of the room and made his way down the stairs.

About halfway down the stairs the pain started to dissipate and I my attention drifted from the pain to Eric.

I couldn't help but feel oddly comfortable in his arms. Safe. I didn't understand how he went back and forth from cruel leader to this. He made my head spin. There was times that I wanted to be as far away from him as possible, and there's moment like this one, or the one in the training room that made me want to be as close as possible to him. It drove me crazy.

Only hints of the pain were still present when we got to the bottom of the stairs. "You can put me down, Eric. I think I'm good."

"You sure?" he actually seemed concerned. I nodded and he slid his arm from underneath my knees and let me stand on my own. "Ready to go announce the victory?"

"Yeah, I just have to do one thing…" As much as I'd hate to ruin this moment, I couldn't let him get away with his earlier. I aimed my gun at his leg and fire.

"Goddamnit!" He dropped to one knee, clutching the leg I shot. He pulled the dart out of his calf and threw it at me. "What the hell!"

"Think twice before you decide to shoot me and push me out of a moving train," I smirked.

"I swear to god I'm gonna…" he growled as he got to his feet.

"What are you gonna do, huh? I just won you the game," I waved the flag in his face and he snatched it from me.

"And that's the only reason you're not getting punish for what you just did," Eric stood there a moment, trying to get feeling back in his leg. "Pull shit like that again and you won't be so lucky."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" I snatched the flag back from him. "Let's go announce the victory, _Captain_," I smiled as Eric rolled his eyes and limped forward. He was having a little trouble so I offered my shoulder for him to lean on. He reluctantly accepted the help as we made our way out to the rest of the initiates.

* * *

**I was originally going to have Four's team win, because like _HeartOfGold7 _mentioned, it would be kinda weird having Eric's team win. But I was having a hard time writing it from that point of view so I just had Eric's team win because it was much easier to write.**

**I hope you guys liked it! I'd love to hear what you guys think so feel free to leave a review or shoot me a PM! :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Thank you for all the favorites and alerts! And thank you _kandula_, _Booker10_, _HeartOfGold,_ and _LoveTheBadGuys77_for the reviews!**

**I hope you guys enjoy it!**

* * *

I groaned as Four helped me off the mat. I had lost my third and final fight against Logan. Logan was one of Seth's degenerate friends that had transferred over from Candor with him. They looked quite similar, so much so that they could be brothers. I was winning for most of the fight until Seth distracted me with a snide comment that he had made. I lost focus and my attention shifted from Logan to Seth. With that unconsciousness came soon after as Logan laid me out on the mat with one powerful punch to temple.

"Dammit," I mumbled. Four wrapped an arm around my waist to balance me. The room still hadn't stabilized yet so the added support was greatly appreciated.

"I'll take her," I heard a voice come up behind us. Eric appeared next to me and I sent my brother a pleading look, begging him not to leave me in the hands of Eric. Eric never took initiates to the infirmary, he always left that task to Four. The look Four sent back told me that he didn't have a place to argue with the leader and that he had no choice. Even after our moment during our capture the flag game, I still wanted to keep my distance from Eric.

Four's arm was replaced with Eric's and I was forced to lean against him for support. It was my turn to reluctantly rely on him for support. I tried to push him away and stand on my own, but failed as my head began to spin. Eric's arm tightened around my waist and I sucked in a sharp breath.

I frowned in my brother's direction as Eric began to lead me out of the training room and to the infirmary. The tension was thick and awkward as silence fell between us. As we reached the half way point of our trek, Eric finally broke the silence. "What happened out there?" I was glad to hear that he had left his harsh, cold tone in the training room. It was softer now, but still authoritative.

"I just... I got distracted," I admitted. The funny thing was, I couldn't even remember what it was that Seth said to grab my attention. Maybe it was just the fact that he had opened his mouth that pissed me off.

"You can't let that Candor kid get in your head. He's just pissed because you knocked his ass out," Eric smirked. Something about him seemed different, he seemed less guarded.

"Eh," I shrugged. That might be part of it, but it wasn't all of it. Seth had it out for me, I knew he did. Whether it was insulting me every chance he got or trying to trip me in the dinning hall, he always put in the extra work to fuck my day up. Or at least tried to. I tried not to let it bother me.

"Don't try to act like I didn't notice by the way," I sent a confused look his way. I wasn't sure what he was talking about. Was he still talking about Seth?

"Notice what?" I raised my eyebrow in curiosity. What was he talking about?

"The way you won your fight against him," Eric's smirk made yet another appearance as we rounded a corner. He was referring to the choke hold that I had used against Seth. The same one that Eric had used on me during our fight.

"Oh," I looked down at my boots as I felt the heat rise in my cheeks. I didn't think he would notice, nonetheless mention it. "I couldn't think of anything else to do. He was bigger, stronger... It was the only way I was going to win," I didn't really know how to explain it to him.

"Well, at least something positive came out of me knocking you on your ass," Eric teased. I rolled my eyes as I chuckled. It was strange though, I, for once, was having an actual conversation with Eric. No arguing or taking jabs at one another, it was kind of nice.

"Hey now, I busted your lip. That's pretty good for my first fight, especially from a girl from Abnegation," I said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, whatever," This time it was Eric who rolled his eyes. "You caught me off guard, that's all," he shook his head and chuckled, looking over at me. Our eyes connected and my breath caught in my throat. All coldness from his features were gone. He didn't look like a cruel Dauntless leader right then and there. He looked like a normal boy who I might have gone to school with. A Dauntless boy that I could have been friends with.

"Whatever keeps the tears away at night," I mocked. His smirk turned into a smile. A genuine smile too. It took me completely off guard. I'd never seen him smile, the most I would ever get was a smirk. His smile suited him. It took away the coldness that he was infamous for. "You should do that more often," I took a risk as I looked back down at my boots.

"Do what?" he asked.

"Smile. It suits you. It doesn't make you look so... mean," I could tell by the look on his face that he didn't know how to take it.

He didn't respond as we arrived at our destination. We were greeted by Lizzy as we entered the infirmary. "Please tell me she isn't here because of you again, Eric."

"Not this time, Lizzy," He dropped the arm that was around my waist. My heart sank a little at the absence of his touch.

"So then what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

"The usual. Check over for a concussion, broken bones, cuts, scrapes and what not," Eric looked over at me briefly, then back at Lizzy as he smirked. "She has a hard head though, so I'm pretty sure you can cross any type of concussion off that list."

"Asshole," I shoved him playful and he chuckled in response.

Lizzy shook her head at us and motioned for me to follow her to the back room where I had been barely a week prior. I noticed that Eric didn't follow. I looked over my shoulder just in time to see him make his exit.

"He's in good mood today," Lizzy noted as I took a seat on the metal table.

"I know right?" So I wasn't the only one that noticed this. "It's weird. Do you know what's up with him?" I figured that if anyone would know it would be Lizzy.

"Maybe," She smirked.

"Lizzzzzyyy," I moaned.

"Fine, yeah, I know why he's so happy," Lizzy pulled a small pen shaped flashlight out of her breast pocket. "Follow my finger with your eyes," She shined the light in my eyes as she moved her finger back and forth. I followed it with ease. She placed the flashlight back in her pocket before she continued. "So, apparently Max was super impressed by how far the initiates have come so far, you in particular."

"Me?" I questioned. Why on earth would he be impressed with me?

"Yeah, you. The only Abnegation transfer this year. The transfer that's kicking some serious ass," she smiled as she pulled the stethoscope that was hanging from around her neck. "He gave Eric a big pat on the back and told him to 'keep up the good work'." I was about to speak when she placed the metal ring to my chest, sticking up her hand to tell me to say silent. Once she had finished, I continued with what I was going to say.

"I don't understand why impressing Max would take him from 'grr I'm a cold hearted leader' to 'hey, let me not be a dick for once'." I shifted on the table as Lizzy placed the stethoscope back around her neck.

"Eric only became a leader a few months ago so impressing Max is a big thing for him. He's hoping to gain Max's respect and his trust. Overseeing your initiation was Eric's first major task and Max seeing that Eric is succeeding is definitely a positive push," Lizzy informed me.

I sat there a few moments and mulled over the new information I had received. Maybe that was why Eric was so keen to put me in my place. He was a new leader and wanted to be respected. A loud mouth initiate would certainly not work in his favor towards that goal. "Let's not talk about Eric," I finally said.

"Okay," She leaned up against the counter behind her. "Visiting day is tomorrow."

I'd rather go back to talking about Eric. The thought of visiting day made my insides turn. The image of Marcus made my head hurt. "Yeah, it is, isn't it?"

"Any family that you're hoping to see tomorrow?" She asked as she turned to start cleaning up her work station.

"Nope," I replied, popping the 'p'.

"Aw, well, if you want you can always come on down and spend your day with me," Lizzy looked over her shoulder and smirked.

I chucked and smiled back at her. "Thanks for the offer," I hopped off the table and fixed my shirt. "If that's it, I'm gonna head out."

"Yeah you're all set, but if you start feeling dizzy or sick, come see me," she informed me.

"I will, thanks," I waved her a goodbye as I made my way out of the infirmary.

**XXX**

The next morning at breakfast I picked at my food while the other initiates chattered away around me about how excited they were to see their families. A small part of me wished that I had a family that I could be excited to see, but that small part of me vanished as my only family walked into the dinning hall.

Four walked up to our table and cleared his throat to get the attention of all the initiates. "Alright, some of your family members have started to arrive. You're free to head down to the pit, but remember what Eric said earlier," he advised. _'It's best not to seem too attached. That will make it easier for you, and easier for them. We take the phrase 'faction before blood' very seriously here._' I shook my head at Eric's words as they echoed in my head. My blood, my family, they were my faction. Most, if not all the initiates at the table got up and rushed out the door in search of their families.

I gave Four a sad smile as I walked past him. Visiting day was a reminder to both of us of our past that we so desperately wanted to forget.

I followed the initiates as they ran down the hall, except when given the option to take the path down to the pit or continue on the path that I was on, I choose the later. Once I found a sufficient spot, I sat down, my feet dangling off the path as I looked over the pit. I couldn't help but smile as I saw Kristen and Olivia find and embrace their families.

"Mind if I join you?" I looked up to find Four standing over me. I shrugged and he took a seat next to me.

"I remember this day last year," I looked over at him, but his eyes were cast over the pit to the other initiates. "I wanted to see you, but Marcus wanted nothing to do with you. He beat me for just mentioning your name..."

"I've never forgiven myself for leaving you with him," he said quietly. The look on his face broke my heart as he turned to me.

"Tobias, I wouldn't have forgiven you if you stayed. You had a chance to get out and you took it. It was only a matter of time till I got mine," I rubbed his back as I leaned my head on his shoulder.

"I'm so proud of you," he could hear the pride his voice as he spoke.

"For what?"

"Not only did you survive a year with Marcus on your own, but you're taking Dauntless by storm. Words gotten around that you've impressed Max," he smirked.

"Why does everyone keep bringing that up? I don't understand how," I sat up and raised my eyebrow in question.

"Well, both your shooting and knife throwing skills are great. You've beaten guys twice your size in fights. Plus, on top of all of that, you won capture the flag for your team," his smirk turned into a smile. "Max has always rooted for the underdog."

I chuckled. "I'll remember that for the future."

I turned as I heard footsteps come up behind us. My shoulders dropped as Eric appeared in the distance.

"Don't you have family to be seeing?" Eric questioned as he approached us. I noticed the nasty look that Eric sent Four's way as he spoke.

"I'm gonna get going," Four got to his feet. "I'll be down in the pit if you need anything," with that he nodded me a goodbye and brushed past Eric. I scowled at Eric as he took a few steps closer. I was none to happy that he ruined a good moment that I was having with my brother. Those moment seemed very few and far apart since I got here.

"You never answered my question," Eric insisted.

"I have all the family I need right here in Dauntless. Abnegation means nothing to me," I snapped. The Abnegation knew what my Father was doing to me and Tobias, yet they just stood by and let it continue. How much more selfish could they be.

"Easy there, little wolf, it was just a question," he sat in the spot that was previously occupied by my brother.

"Little wolf?" I questioned the nickname.

"It suites you." He still seemed much more relax then he usually was. I'm surprised that he didn't give me the whole 'watch your tone' lecture. "You're fierce and rebellious."

"I thought you didn't train rebels, you trained soliders?" I asked, using one of his own lines against him.

"You can't tame a wolf, at least it doesn't seem that way," he smirked and looked over the pit, but my eyes stayed on him. Something about his relaxed and open state made me smile. If people saw Eric like this I'm sure their opinions of him would change.

"If all it took to get you in a mood like this was a pat on the back from Max I would have forced his hand a long time ago," I chuckled.

"Trust me, my mood has nothing to do with Max," he leaned back on his hands and faced me.

"Then what changed your mood?"

"You," My eyes went wide as I looked at him. Was he serious? The genuine look on his face told me that me meant what he said. I bit down on my lip piercing and noticed that his eyes followed the movement. Before either one of us had a chance to speak I heard my name being called from the pit.

"Alex! Come here! I want you to meet my family!" Olivia shouted as she looked up at the ledge and over at us.

"I uh...I've gotta go," I looked away from Eric and quickly stood up, making my way down to the pit.

* * *

**I hope you guys liked it! I'd love to hear what you guys think so feel free to leave a review or shoot me a PM! :)**


	13. Chapter 13

**Thank you guys for all the alerts and favorites! And thank you _Sky, hugabunny12, Doctor Smith, SaiyukiLover232, luvsomefanfic, NymeriaGhostStark, _and_ Ashilz _for all the reviews! **

**Hope you guys enjoy it!**

* * *

"Don't itch it," Jake swatted my hand away from my neck. My new tattoo itched like crazy and just sitting here in this hallway bored as hell wasn't helping take my attention away from it. Today was the first day of phase two so both Dauntless-born and transfers sat together in this long narrow hall that had a metal door at the end of it. I had asked around about phase two, but nobody would give me a solid answer on what it was.

"What does it even mean?" Jake questioned. I smirked slightly at his curiosity. I got it last night when everyone was saying goodbye to their families. I kind of just got it on a whim, but it suited the occasion. Plus, I wanted to get my mind off my run in with Eric. The pain of the needles helped distract me for a little while, but that one single word bounced around my head all night.

"Family," was all I said. _T4E _was tattooed on the back of my neck. Tobias 'Four' Eaton. The only family I have and will ever need.

"Hm," I could tell Jake was unsatisfied with my answer, but didn't questioned it any further as he leaned his head back against the wall.

"So who's ranked first out of you guys?" Adam asked, interrupting the silence that surrounded us.

"That'd be me," Seth raised his hand enthusiastically. To be honest, I was glad that I wasn't first, that would have made me a target to people like Seth and Luke. We were told the rankings last night after dinner and to say the least I was surprised by my third place status. I wasn't sure how I felt about the rest of the rankings though.

_1\. Seth _

_2\. Luke _

_3\. Alex _

_4\. Paul _

_5\. Olivia _

_6\. Mathew_

_7\. Nathan _

_8\. Kristen _

I felt it was my fault that Kristen had just barely escaped being cut. A Candor boy named Lucas and an Erudite boy named Derek weren't so lucky and became factionless. I didn't really know them too well, but I was sad to see them go.

"What about you guys?" Kristen asked, her Erudite curiosity making an appearance.

"Jake," Dean nodded in my best friend's direction.

"Aidan gave him a run for his money though," Adam chuckled. Our conversation was interrupted by the opening of the metal door at the end of the hall. Four appeared from inside the room.

"Nathan," he summoned. I saw Nathan sigh as he got up and joined Four behind the closed door. I counted the minutes that ticked by till the door opened again; 15. "Dean," Four called this time. This continued until me, Jake, Paul, and Olivia were the only ones left sitting in the hall. I only ever saw people enter the room, never exit.

"Alex," I jumped at the sound of my name. I got up and began to walk towards my brother when Jake grabbed my hand.

"Good luck," he gave me a reassuring smiled and I returned it before I continued to the room.

My heart dropped as I stepped inside the dimly lit room. There was a chair in the center, just like their was for the aptitude test. I heard Four close the door behind me and my heart began to pound.

"Take a seat," he motioned to the chair in the center of the room. I swallowed hard and complied. I sat down in the chair, but my eyes never left my brother. He stationed himself next to me, behind a computer that had countless wires attached to it.

He began to fidget with something on the table next to it as he began talking. "I'm gonna inject you with a serum that's gonna stimulate the part of you brain that processes fear," he continued to talk as he filled a needed with an orange liquid.

"Great," I huffed sarcastically.

"It induces a hallucination and then transmitters in the serum allow me to see the imagines in your mind," he said it so calmly that it made me question how many times he'd done this before. "Lean back," he pushed me slightly backwards to that my head was up against the chair. "Can you put your hair up for me? It'll make it easier," he motioned towards the needle.

I did as he asked and tied my hair up in a messy pony tail. I saw him raise an eyebrow as he noticed the tattoo on the back on my neck. He moved my head the side so he could see the whole thing. "T4E?

"Tobias 'Four' Eaton," I said simply. I could tell he was trying to fight the smile that appeared on his face.

"Why?" That was a good question.

"I don't know, to be honest. You're my big brother and you're the only family that I have and will ever need," he nodded, the smile still evident on his face. He kissed the side of my head before he turned back to the needle.

I closed my eyes as he brought the needle closer to my neck. I flinched slightly as I felt a prick of pain in my neck.

"You're gonna be facing your worst fears, Alex. Most people have 10 to 15 really bad ones," I just nodded as I felt the serum begin to take effect. I my eyelids slowly got heavier. "You have to calm yourself, slow your heart rate and breathing and deal with what's in front of you," my eyes were starting to close. "Be brave. I love you," and with that my eyes shut.

The next time I opened my eyes I was back in my house in Abnegation. I was in the closet. My heart rate started to race as I reached for the door and tried to opened it, but it wouldn't budge. No, this can't be happening. My father used to stick me and Tobias in this closet as punishment. I sat back and tried to relax, I tried to slow my breathing. I was succeeding until the walls began to close in. The closet was getting smaller and smaller.

I started to panic as I cowered into the corner. I pounded on the walls, hoping that they would stop, but they didn't. "Come on, Alex, you can do this," I pressed my back against one wall, waiting for the one opposite of it to come closer. As it crept closer, I counted in my head, _One, two,….three_. I kicked the wall with everything I had and the walls began to crumple around me. I did it.

I thought I was done, I had succeeded, but was sadly mistaken. Next came being buried alive, after that it was drowning, and then being forced to kill my brother. Finally, I found myself back in Abnegation.

I was back in the living room of my old house. The room was darker than usual and I began to squirm when I noticed I was tied to a chair.

"I expected more from you, Alexandra," My breath caught in throat as I heard her voice echo through the house.

"Mom?" My mother appeared in front of me, my father and brother behind her.

"Please, don't insult me with that title," she snarled. "You're the reason I left. I couldn't stand you. You're helpless and weak, and the likelihood of you ever accomplishing something in life is so small that it's pathetic."

"Mom…" I whimpered. Her features that I remembered as caring and soft were cruel and calculating. It wasn't true. What she was saying, it wasn't true.

"You've always been my biggest mistake. Goodbye, Alexandra."

"Mom!" I shouted, but it was too late, she had already faded into the shadows. My attention snapped to Tobias as he stepped forward, a scowl on his face.

"It's all your fault! She left because of you!" He grabbed my face in one of his hands. Pain shot through my cheeks as his grip tightened.

"Tobias, you're hurting me," I cried. The look on his face remind me so much of my father that it scared me.

"Oh, I'm hurting you? What about me? What about all of the times that he beat me," he pointed to Marcus, who stood behind him, with his free hand, "because of you? Because you fucked up and I had to put my ass on the line you protect you?" he ripped his hand away from my face. "Well, I'm sick and tried of protecting you, that's why when I got my chance to leave this godforsaken place I took it. I didn't leave because of Dad, I left because of you, " he barked. My eyes started to water. My brain was spinning at what was happening. I couldn't think straight. "And then you chose my faction, out of all factions to come to. I thought I had finally rid myself of you and then _poof_ your sorry ass showed up again."

He stood up straight and began to walk backwards towards the door. "Well, I'm done with being your brother, I'm done with you."

"Tobias, please! Don't leave me with him! Please!" I pleaded as he, just like my mother, disappeared into the shadows.

"Aw, look at that, all alone once again," A sinister smile spread across Marcus' face as he took his place in front of me. "You're the biggest failure this family has ever seen."

"No, I'm not," I choked.

"Oh, but you are. Just look at you," with that he took his belt off, striking me across the face. "I tried to beat the success into you, but it looks like I didn't beat you hard enough," he brought his hand back again to hit me. _This isn't real. _I wished that my wrist weren't tied down, and next thing I knew, they weren't.

I brought my hand up to intercept the belt. The look of surprise on his face filled me with pride. I launched myself at him and tackled him to the floor. I took the belt from him, my blood boiling with rage. I struck him with the belt, giving him a taste of his own medicine. Just as the belt made contact with his skin I was pulled into darkness.

I woke up in a different room. I started to panic when I felt two hand on my shoulders. I looked up to see Four and his pained expression. I don't know why, but I started to cry. Four pulled me out of the chair and into his arms. "I'm so sorry. You're okay now, I promise. It wasn't real."

We stayed like that for a few minutes till I calmed down. He sat me back down in the chair and he sat on a stool next to me. "Alex," I looked up and him and met his blue eyes that mirrored my own. "How'd you do that?"

"Do what?" I wasn't sure what he was talking about.

"The walls, how'd you break them? And the rope, it just disappeared," he seemed worried, but I didn't understand why.

"I don't know, I just did," I shrugged. Why did it matter?

"You just did?" he looked away from me and nodded slightly. "What were your test results?" he looked back up at me and asked.

I froze. '_You can't tell anyone, not even your family' _those words echoed in my head as I thought about how I would answer my brother's question. The Dauntless man who administered my test said that my test results made me dangerous. They made me divergent.

"You got divergent, didn't you?" My lack of response gave him is answer. "Do you know how long you were in there for?"

"Half hour?"

"Four minutes," he countered. "Three times faster than the other initiates."

"What?" There was no way.

"That's what being divergent does. You can take control of the simulation. You're aware while you're under. A Dauntless wouldn't have broke that walls like that. The rope wouldn't have magically disappeared," his voice was stern as he explained this.

"Why does that make me dangerous?"

"You can't be controlled, you can't be categorized, you're a treat to the system. Because of that, you need to keep a low profile and stay off people like Eric's radar," He referred back to my history of voicing my opinions when it came to the young leader. It felt like the concept of divergence was nothing foreign to him.

"You're divergent too, aren't you?" I asked. He nodded in response.

"I can teach you how to hide it throughout-"

"What do you mean 'next couple of days'? You mean I have to do this again? I can't do that again, Tobias. Please don't make me do that again," I begged.

"I'm sorry, but that's phase two. I had go through the same thing. The closet, Marcus, I understand," he sympathized. I felt my eyes begin to water as the sight of my mother calling me a mistake made it's way to my thoughts.

"Can I go?" I asked.

"Yeah," Four looked away from me and down at his hands. "If you want to talk, I'm alway here for you, you know that, right?"

"Yeah I know, Tobi," I gave him a small smile before exiting the room. I tried to keep my head low as I made it back to the dorms, but couldn't help looking up as I heard a familiar voice. I spotted Eric have a conversation with another leader. Jennifer I think her name was?

I hadn't spoken to Eric since visiting day. As if on cue, Eric looked up and met my damp eyes. His neural expression turned into a pained one. I quickly looked away from him and continued to the dorms.

That's pretty much how the next two days went; absolutely terrible. Four had shown me different ways to help me get out of fears that didn't give up my divergent status. I was the last one called for the past two days because it gave him more time to work with me. I had just finished my third day of phase two and felt completely drained.

After we finished our fear simulations we were free to do as we pleased. I had gone back to the dorms to see if I could get some sleep, but failed epically. I hadn't been able to sleep since we started the sims.

After dinner, Four was going to release our 'progress report' that showed where we currently ranked. I knew I was towards the top so there was no use in me being there. I made my way to the chasm, trying to keep some distance from me and my friends. Just like I had done plenty of times before, I took a seat on the edge, letting my legs dangle over the side and my feet get wet due to the spray of the rushing water. Thankfully the only sound that filled my ears was the chasm. It was dinner time so most everyone was in the dinning hall.

I sat alone for a good 10 or 15 minutes before my solitude was interrupted. I hadn't even heard him come up next to be due to the roar of the water. Eric took a seat next to me on the wet rocks.

"So not in the mood, Eric," I muttered as I rubbed my temples. I felt like I said that every time I saw Eric. But then again, I was never in the mood to deal with him.

"I figured this might help take the edge off things," I looked over at him to discover that he had two glasses in his hand and a bottle of whiskey. I could smell the whiskey on him before he even opened the bottle. He'd definitely been drinking before he took his spot next to me. An intoxicated Eric… This was going to be interesting.

"I thought initiates weren't allowed to drink?" To be quite honest, I was surprised by his gesture.

"Yeah, well, you looked like you could use one. Plus, it's not like you haven't broken that rule before," he opened the bottle and poured some of the golden liquid in both glasses.

I chuckled as he handed me a glass. I twirled it around in the glass before I downed it. It burned as it traveled down my throat. Damn, that shit was strong. I felt the buzz instantly, but it was a welcomed feeling.

"You ranked first, you know that right?" He informed me. Great, that pretty much placed a huge target on my back. Seth wasn't going to settle for anything less than first, I knew that for a fact.

"I did?" I acted as if I didn't already know I would.

"Yeah, surprisingly. Pretty impressive for a Stiff," Eric threw back his glass before refilling both of ours.

"Thanks?" I wasn't quite sure if that was a compliment or not. We sat there for a few minutes in silence. It wasn't awkward though, but comfortable.

"Seeing that those sims seem to be getting to you I'm surprised that you've been doing so well," his comment took me a little off guard. He finished off his second glass and poured himself another. Did he suspect I was divergent?

"They're not getting to me," I said defensively. That was a lie though. Those fears shook me to my core. The drowning and buried alive things didn't hit me nearly as hard as the ones that had to do with my family. I had barely gotten six hours of sleep since we had started phase two.

"Liar," Eric glanced at me before taking another sip from his glass. Instead of answering him, I chugged the golden liquid in my glass, trying to forget the look on my brothers face as I was forced to shoot him in my sim. I poured myself more before Eric continued. "They're not real. You can't let them get to you like that."

"Don't you think I know that?" I hissed. "They may not seem real to you, but half of my fucking fears are based on real shit that I had to go through," I felt the familiar burn of the whiskey glide down my throat as I took another gulp. If I wasn't buzzed I probably would have never told him that, but hey, what the hell. "That's what I get for being a coward, for running from my past."

"What are they based on?" He tones was soft, not demanding in anyway. I looked over at him to find his facial expression genuine, his eyes curious. This wasn't Dauntless' youngest leader that I was talking to, it was the man who carried me down the stairs when I was in too much pain to walk.

"My father. My family," I admitted. "But it's not just my story to tell, so…" I had to consider Four in all of this. For all I knew, Eric knew my brother's real name and saying anything more would allow Eric to connect the dots and learn not just about my past, but Four's as well.

Eric just nodded in response, letting me know that he understood. There was something about him, about how he was right now that made me change my whole opinion of him. The cruel and cold leader was just a façade. I understood why. To him it was better to be feared and respected than to be liked and taken as a joke.

It was quiet for a few moments until I decided to bring up something that had lingered in the back of my head for the past couple of days. "What you said on visiting day…"

"Forget I ever said anything," Eric defected the topic quicker than I could finish my sentence. "I wasn't thinking when I said it."

His constant bouncing between moods and emotions began to make my head spin. Or was that the whiskey?

"Yeah, okay," I yawned. My body and eyes began to feel heavy. Without thinking, I leaned my head on his shoulder. I felt the muscles in his body tense, but then slowly start to relax. "I wished you were like this more often, not just when you've been pumped full of whiskey," I yawned once again, feeling my eyes begin to close slowly.

"I wouldn't be Eric if I was," was the last thing I heard him say as my eyes closed and slipped into the unconsciousness that I had been lacking for days.

* * *

**I hope you guys liked it! I'd love to hear what you guys think so feel free to leave a review or shoot me a PM! :)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Thank you for all the favorites and alerts! And thank you _ActressCeCe and hugabunny12 for the reviews!_**

**Just a heads up, this is kinda a filler chapter. But don't worry, things between Eric and Alex are definitely gonna be picking up in the next couple chapters chapter :P**

**I hope you guys enjoy it!**

* * *

I groaned as pain shot through my head. I forgot how shitty hangovers felt. I squinted as I opened my eyes, the light coming in from under the door was like a hammer to the temple. Wait, door? There weren't any doors in the dorms. I shot up right, much to the disdain of my hangover. I was wrapped in black sheets that belonged to a huge bed.

My eyes searched the room for an indicators as to where I was. There was a pile of black clothes in the corner and a pile of books in the other on a chair. There were no pictures on the either nightstand, just an alarm clock that looked like it had taken several beatings. I tried to back track to the last thing that I remembered. I was sitting by the chasm…then Eric showed up. Shit. Eric.

I threw the sheets off me and swung my legs over the edge of the bed. I was still in the clothes I had on yesterday. That was a good sign, right? My boots where by the foot of the bed, but I didn't bother putting them on as I cracked open the bedroom door. The light hit me like a brick wall.

As I peered out of the room I was met with the sight of a slightly messy apartment. I took a few steps out of the room, continuing my observational scan. I found Eric sitting at a desk that was located in the corner of the room. He rummaged through paperwork in a black tank-top and sweat pants, a pencil behind his ear.

He must have heard me because he turned around as I took a few more steps into the room. "There's a glass of water on the counter and something to help with hangover," was all he said before he turned back to the files in front of him. His tone had shifted from the one that he had last night. His tone was flat, borderline bored, tired.

I didn't say anything, my mind still trying to sort what was happening. I padded over to the kitchen counter, finding the glass of water and two little white pills, just as he had said. Without hesitation, I took the pills and flushed them down my throat with a gulp of water. "What time is it?" was the first question that came to my mind.

"6:30," he answered simply. I nodded, not that he would have seen. His focus was trained on the papers in front of him. I made my way over to his black couch, taking a seat. I couldn't help but follow the outline of the muscles in his arm as I sat there.

"See something you like? Take a picture, it'll last longer," he sassed. I rolled my eyes and tucked my feet underneath me, my glass of water still in my hands. I placed the water down on the table and fixed my pony-tail.

"Why am I here, Eric?" I asked him what seemed like the golden question.

"You passed out on me last night," Oh yeah, I remember now.

"Why didn't you just bring me back to the dorms?" I brought up another good question. Why bring me here, to his apartment?

For the first time since I had sat down, he looked at me. "I couldn't really do that, could I?" I raised an eyebrow in question. "Do you know how bad that would look? First off, it would imply that there was something going on here," he motioned between the two of us. "Secondly, I'm the one who gave you the drink, I would be incriminated myself," he spoke as if reasoning to his actions were obvious, his tone harsh.

"Whatever," I retorted, rolling my eyes. I got up off the couch and headed back to the bedroom, to _his _bedroom, and grabbed my boots. It was too early to deal with Eric. I brought myself back to the couch, sitting so I could pull my boots on.

"Where do you think you're going?" he questioned. Once I had pulled on my boots, I stood.

"Anywhere but here," I made my way over to the door as Eric got up from his seat at his desk.

"You don't even know you're way back," he sounded slightly annoyed due to my hasty actions.

"I'll find my way," I shrugged as I reached for the door handle. I had just managed to opened the door slightly when Eric's arm came up next to my head, slaming to door shut. I turned, only to find myself face-to-face with him. His arm remained planted on the door, parallel to my head.

"Eric," I growled. Like I said... Way. Too. Fucking. Early.

"You can't tell anyone you were here," he informed me.

"Why the hell would I tell people? And what am I gonna tell them? How great your hospitality was?" I snarked.

"I'm serious, Alex," he snapped. "This could get us both into some serious shit."

"I'll keep that in mind," I huffed, slipping from between him and the door. I pulled the door opened forcefully, letting myself out.

"Ale-," I didn't give him a chance to even finish saying my name as I slammed the door behind me.

I spent the next several minutes trying to navigate through the apartment complex, trying to find my way back and I failed miserably. I wasn't sure if I was relieved to hear someone call my name from down the hall or terrified.

"Alex!" I whipped around to find my brother walking in my direction. Shit.

"Hey," I smiled, trying to brush my anxiety aside.

"What are you doing here?" Something about the look on his face told me that he didn't need an answer to that question. Something told me he already knew, but how?"

"I uh, I just got lost," I was a shit liar, especially when it came to my brother.

"Coming from Eric's apartment?" he hissed.

"How did you…?" I couldn't imagine how bad this looked.

"I work in the control room, remember? I saw you two last night by the chasm. I went to find you last night, but you weren't in the dorms," I could see the anger line his features.

"It's not what it looks like, I swear!" I didn't know how to dig myself out of this ditch.

"It never is, is it?" He grabbed me by my arm and began to lead me in what I assume was the way back to the dorms.

"I got drunk last night, I passed out…" I confessed. "Eric couldn't bring me back to the dorm because people would make the same assumption you're making right now!" He glance in my direction, but continued to pull me along with him. "I swear, nothing happened."

"What did I tell you about staying off the radar when it came to people like him?" he stopped and turned toward me. His voice was hushed, but harsh. "People like him are dangerous to people like us. He can't be trusted, if he ever found out what you are he'd kill you."

"He won't find out," I hissed.

"Why were you drinking with him anyway? Since when have you two been friends?" I almost laughed at the term _friends_.

"Please, we are so far from friends it isn't even funny," I shook my head. "He was… somewhat drunk and I needed to get drunk. That's it, that's all. I just didn't realize how much of a lightweight I was."

"Out of all people, Alexandra?" His feature turned from angry to disappointed. I preferred the pissed off look to the disappointed look any day. He ran his hand over his face. "You know how I feel about Eric."

"I know, and I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking," I admitted. "But I can handle myself. Eric isn't as bad as you think he is."

"Don't," he growled. "Don't defend him."

"Okay, fine. Just lead me back to the dorms, please," and with that the conversation was dropped and we continued our was to the initiate accommodations.

Once we reached our destination we parted ways. I crawled in my bed as Four banged on the metal rail with a steel pipe. I sat back up in bed, acting as if the metal-on-metal alarm had woken me up. I watched as Four left the room, a frown was firmly planted on his face.

"Alex? I didn't see you last night," Kristen yawned as she sat up in bed.

"Yeah, sorry, I was… I needed some time to myself," That was my initial goal last night at least.

"Ah okay," was all she said as she got out of bed. I followed suit and began getting ready for the long day that I knew would be ahead of me.

XXX

To my surprise, I was called first today. Four was all business today, there was no trace of my brother anywhere in his words or actions. He was probably still pissed about this morning. To be honest, I would be too if I was in his position. I just wanted him to understand that it was harmless. Nothing happened. Maybe it was just my association with Eric that upset him.

As I exited the simulation room, I realized that being first wasn't such a great thing. I would have to wait for everyone to get done with their sims before we could do something. For once I wanted to be around my friends, I wanted to take my mind off my thoughts.

Not really knowing what to do, I headed to the tattoo parlor. Nothing says boredom like getting a tattoo for shits and giggles. I made my way into the parlor, the sound of buzzing needles somewhat comforting. I saw Tori in the far corner of the shop cleaning some gear and strolled over to her.

She smiled when she saw me. "Hey, kiddo. Looking for another tat?"

"As a matter of fact, I am," I returned her smile.

"Well you've got perfect timing, I just finished up with someone so I'm free," she placed her newly cleaned equipment down. "Have an idea of what you want?"

"Um…" I looked around the parlor at the variety of tattoos on the wall. My eye was caught on a design that hung not far from me. It was a wolf. I knew what I wanted. "Yeah, claw marks, from my shoulder to elbow."

"Claw marks?" I could tell by the look on her face she knew what I meant, but not the meaning behind it.

"Yeah, someone compared me to a wolf once," I informed her, my thoughts drifted back to visiting day. "I didn't really see where they were coming from. I've always seen myself as more of a wounded animal."

"They say wounded animals are the most dangerous," Tori lead me to an empty chair.

"Exactly."

XXX

I exited the parlor, a smile on my face. Tori did a fantastic job, it looked so realistic to a point that the detail would make you genuinely believe that me and a wolf had come to blows.

I was sure that Jake and the others would have finished their simulations by now so I started to make my way to the dinning hall. It was almost lunch time so that would be my best bet in locating them.

I was about half way to there when a pair of hands shot over my eyes and mouth. I screamed, but it was pointless, it was muffed and barely audible. I tried to rip myself free, but I was pulled against their body and lifted off the ground. I tried to kick my way free, but to no avail.

"I won't come in second to a Stiff," they growled. A chill ran down my spine. It was Seth. It had to be. But there was more than one pair of hands on me. As I tried to figure out who my second assailant was, I felt something sharp pierce my abdomen. My body went limp and my screams silenced due to the pain. They dragged it through my skin. The pain ripped through my body like a wild fire.

"She won't survive that," I heard someone else say. Luke?

"That's the point. Leave her here. We can't get her to the chasm without being seen," with that, I was dropped, my head bouncing off the ground. My hands shot to my stomach, they were met with a warm, thick liquid. I heard their feet pound on the pavement as they raced away from me.

My vision started to fade, but I refused to just lay here and die. I struggled to my knees as I continued to clutch my stomach. The sharp pain traveled through my whole body, making it heavy and slugish. I wasn't going to make it. No, I had to. I made it to my feet and began to stumble forward, hoping, praying that somebody would find me. This isn't how I thought I would die.

"Help!" I tried to call out, but it came out a mere mumble. All of my strength was focused on my footsteps. I barely made it 50 feet before I just couldn't keep my legs under me. I dropped to my knees.

I thought of my brother, what would happen to him if I died. It hurt to know that I was probably going to die with my brother still upset with me. After everything we'd been through and this is how it ends. I thought of my friends, of Jake, Aidan, Kristen, and Olivia. I wondered if they would even miss me.

Then I saw someone off in the distance. I couldn't quite make out who it was. "Help!" I gave it one last shot. It came out louder than the one before, but I wasn't sure if they had heard me or not. I saw them turn, but that was all I saw. I dropped to the floor. I could feel all the strength leave me through the gapping hole in my abdomen.

"Alex!" They called, but I didn't say conscious long enough to discover who it was. The darkness behind my eyelids swallowed me as I slipped into it.

* * *

**I hope you guys liked it! I'd love to hear what you guys think so feel free to leave a review or shoot me a PM! :)**


	15. Chapter 15

**Thank you guys for all the favorites and alerts! And thank you to _DanielaLiddell22, Doctor Smith, Wizard92, hugabunny12, ActressCeCe, cattchmeifyoucan, _and _FreakyGeek13 _for the reviews!**

* * *

A soft, repedative _beep_ echoed in my ears. I felt numb, my whole body felt weightless. I pried my eyes open, only to be met with a wall of white light. Once my pupils adjusted to the level of light, I was able to make out my surroundings. I was in the infirmary. I was hooked up to all kinds of wires.

I looked over to my right to be met with a bloody Eric. His clothes were stained with blood, _my _blood. As soon as he noticed that I was awake he shot up out of the chair he had been sitting in and stood next to the bed I was hooked up to.

"It's about time," he sighed. There was something different about him. He seemed… troubled. His expression was far from cold, he looked concerned.

"How long was I out?" I cringed as I tried to sit up.

"Easy there..." he cautioned. "Only a few hours," he looked away from me and at his boots. "You were pretty touch and go for a while…"

"Well, I _was _stabbed so," I chuckled, but was met with a sharp pain in my abdomen. "That's my blood, isn't it?"

He nodded as I look at his stained clothing. It was Eric who found me. If it wasn't for him, I'd probably be dead. Shit, I _would _be dead. "Thank you," I muttered.

"Yeah, well, you wouldn't be in this position if you retained anything we taught you first phase," he rolled his eyes. Well that moment didn't last long.

"Why are you here, Eric?" I questioned.

Once again, he looked away from me and at his hands that were folded in front of him. "'Cause," he look a deep breath before continuing. "I was worried about."

Eric, worried about me? I found it hard to believe, but the thought made me smile slightly.

"Ha! Yeah, okay," I retorted, taking my turn to roll my eyes. By the look on his face, he seemed genuinely offended by my words. He turned to leave, but I grabbed his hand before he could get any father.

"Eric…" I pulled him back, bringing him closer. He sat down next to me on the bed, my hand still holding his. "I'm sorry." What he did next took me so off guard I wasn't sure it actually happened.

He intertwined his fingers with mine, making me smile. So it wasn't just me, he felt it too. There was this unspoken tension, feeling, between us. He looked up at me, our eyes connecting. There was something that confused me. It was this warmth that I had never seen in his eyes before.

I heard a knock at the door and Eric immediately let my hand go and stood, getting some distance between me and him. I frowned at this, craving his touch again. The door opened to reveal Four. My mouth twisted into a smile as I saw him, I never thought I would see him again.

"How you feeling, Initiate?" He asked. I was unfortunately reminded that he was my instructor, not my brother, at the moment due to Eric's presence. I could see the worry and fear spread across his features though, no matter how hard he tried to hide it.

"Alive," I sighed. "Thanks to Eric." I looked over to the young leader to see his mouth twitch upwards slightly.

"You were lucky he found you," I could tell that he had to nearly force the words out. "He saved your life," he glanced over in Eric's direction.

"Do you know who did this?" Eric asked, looking at me.

"It was Seth… and Luke," I averted my eyes from them both, remembering the feeling of his hands over my eyes and mouth.

"You saw them?" Four questioned.

"Well… not exactly. They had my eyes covered…but I heard them," I admitted.

"That's not enough. We can't punish them based on what you heard. It's not solid enough evidence," Eric let out a frustrated sigh.

"Weren't there cameras?" There had to be. There were cameras everywhere.

"Not where you were attacked. That's probably why they picked that place to do it," Four informed us. Great. We had nothing. We couldn't prove that it was them.

"I'm gonna go and update Max on the situation. I'll be back later," the last part was more for me then it was Four. My eyes followed Eric as he left the room, closing the door behind him.

I could physically see Four's muscle relax as Eric left the room. He look Eric's spot, sitting next to me on the bed.

"I'm so sorry," he nearly choked.

"Why?" He had nothing to be sorry for. I didn't understand where this was coming from.

"I was such a dick to you about some petty shit. You almost died with me pissed at you. I couldn't imagine…" he look down at his lap.

"Hey," I lifted his chin so he was forced to look at me. "It's okay. I'm okay. I knew why you were upset, you had every right to be."

He suddenly chuckled, confusing me. He noticed this and explained. "To think that I was was pissed because you were with Eric and it he turns out saving your life."

I smiled at his observation. "You still hate him?"

"Hate is a very strong word, but yeah, I still hate him," he smirked. Well, it was worth a shot.

"How long am I gonna be in here?" I asked. I felt so useless just laying here.

"A few days? A week? I don't know to be honest, but it doesn't matter, you'll miss the rest of phase two," I don't know if I was relieved or upset by this news.

"What? Why?"

"Well, you're gonna have to go through some physical therapy per say. You've got a pretty big gash in you and you're gonna have to build back up those muscles that were damage," he informed me.

"Physical therapy? What exactly am I gonna have to do?" I was well aware of what physical therapy was, but when it came to Dauntless I wasn't sure what to expect.

"You're gonna revisit some training you had to due in first phase," he told me.

"Seriously?" I groaned. "Who's gonna be training me? You?"

"No, I have to work with he rest of the initiates. It will most likely be Lauren," Lauren seemed nice enough, but I didn't want to train with her and have to learn how she ticks. I wanted someone I knew. "Knowing you, you'll be back with the rest of initiate in no time so don't stress, okay?"

"Okay," I hoped he was right.

XXX

I had been stuck in the infirmary for a week, which was't bad. Jake and the gang had come to see me nearly every day, Olivia always made sure that she brought me food from the dinning hall. Eric visited be every day too, which was surprising at first, but I was grateful for his company. He was still snarky here and there, but for the most part he was pretty down to earth. Lizzy didn't want me to start training so soon, but I knew that she could see how anxious I was to get back in the game. She warned me about taking it easy, but let's be real. Since when do I take things easy?

I pulled my hair up in a messy bun as I waited for Lauren in the training room. Four told me to be here at 8am. It was 7:58 and I was ready to hit the ground running. I dropped down to one knee so I could tie my shoe, but looked up when I heard the doors to the training room open. To say the least, it wasn't Lauren who walking trough the doors.

"Ready to get to work?" Eric asked as he made his way over to me. My jaw nearly dropped. Out of people, did it have to be him? There was no way my brother was going to be happy with this.

"Where's Lauren?" I got up and sent him a confused look.

"Why? Are you not happy to see me?" What kind of fucking question was that?

"No, wait, I mean, yeah, but…" I couldn't help but trip over my words. I sighed in frustration. "Just answer my question."

"Max thought it would be better if I looked over you rehabilitation," he smirked. This could go one of two very different ways.

"Oh really?" Max could care less about my 'rehabilitation'. Eric orchestrated this whole thing. "So you gonna be hard on me or let me slide through this?" I smiled, starting to walk away from him and deeper into the training room.

"I don't know, lets find out."

My first days of 'physical therapy' was pretty much the first few days of phase one all over again. He had me do push ups, running and working on my basic fighting techniques. It was light stuff so I wouldn't rip the stitches, but I had to take breaks every half hour or so. Eric was different this time around. He was less critical and more encouraging. He also didn't just stand around and watch me do the exercises on my own, he trained with me, which really helped. We had definitely gotten closer through this. He smiled more often and I had even gotten him to laugh quite a few times. He was softer now, at least around me. When I would pass him in the hall he would look like the same old cruel dauntless leader and be an ass to everyone, but when he was with me, he was just Eric.

We didn't talk about what happened in the infirmary, but neither one of us forgot it. I could tell by the way he looked at me, or how when he would correct me on something he would always touch me. There would be this electricity that bounced from him to me.

It had been a little over two weeks since I had been attacked, a little over a week since I had started working with Eric. Today was the last day of phase two for the rest of the initiates and the last day of physical therapy for me. I was still stitched up, but I could feeling myself getting back to how I was before, physically at least. Emotionally, I wasn't there yet. I was still forced to sleep the same room with Seth and Luke. Kristen and Olivia never left my side, and neither did Jake and Aidan when I was with them.

I sat down next to Jake at breakfast, still trying to rub the sleep out of my eyes.

"So it's you finial day with Eric, right?" He was not the happiest person in the world to learn that I had to work with Eric, second to only my brother, but he seemed to be less worried about it once he found out that Eric had been the one that saved me.

"Yup. You guys have your final day of phase two, don't you?" I asked as Aidan, Kristen, and Olivia joined us.

"Thank god," Kristen sighed. I chuckled as I took a bite of my muffin.

"I'm not sure who got it worse, you or us," Aidan joked.

"Definitely you guys. Eric's been pretty good," I couldn't help but smirk.

"Yeah we've been stuck with Mr. Grumpypants over here," Olivia nodded towards Four's direction, who was walking towards our table. I knew Four wasn't trying to be a grump, but he was just worried. He was worried becasue I was left alone with Eric everyday for the past week and a half.

Four nodded a hello to the table, but turned his attention to me. "I just wanted to let you know that your final day with Eric is today and that you'll be taking the final phase of training with everyone else tomorrow," he informed me.

"Wait, what? I haven't been in a simulation for weeks! Might as well just fail me now," I whined. We both knew that wasn't true, but I would still be rusty.

"Too bad, get over it," he shot down my complaint. "I'll be in later today to see how far you've come with your recovery," he said plainly. I hated him in instructor mode. He was so cold, but then again, he had to be.

"Yeah, okay," I muttered. With that my brother turned on his heels and headed away from us. "I guess I should get going," I said, getting up from my seat. "I don't want to be late."

"Alright, we'll see you at lunch," Olivia spoke for the group. I nodded and waved to the group.

I didn't see Eric in the dinning hall so I assumed that he was already in the training room. I was greeted by emptiness as I walked through the doors. I took the free time to stretch before I was put to work. It was only a few minutes later that Eric joined me. He pulled his jacket off his shoulders and was left in a black tank top that matched mine.

"So what's on the agenda today?" I sighed. I wanted to get this over and done with. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy spending time with Eric, I loved it actually, but exercise was not my friend.

"Cardio and put in some work on the punching bag," he responded.

And that's what we did. It was mainly running, but those mountain climbers, high knees and box jumps definitely kicked my ass. If I wasn't struggling to breath I'd probably be staring at Eric as he trained with me, so I was somewhat glad to have my mind focused on something else.

I beat on the punching bag as Eric watched my posture and form. I had just started and was already tired of doing it. I stopped and turned to Eric.

"Is this really necessary?"

"Yes, why wouldn't it be?" Eric raised his eyebrow, waiting for an argument, which he got.

"I don't need it, I'm solid when it comes to fighting," I grabbed a towel from the bench a few feet away and wiped the sweat from face.

"Is that so? I'm pretty sure I could lay you out on the mat just as easy as I did the first time," he said matter-fatly.

"Is that a challenge?" I inquired.

"Only if you want it to be," he smirked.

"Challenge excepted," I threw the towel at him and walked over to the mat.

I heard him chuckle as he followed. I sat and pulled my boots off and he did the same. When I was done I stood on mat, waiting for him to join me. He had a smug smile on his face as he stepped up.

"This didn't end well for you last time," he teased.

"Are we gonna stand here and chat or are you gonna-," he didn't give me chance to finish my sentence as he took a swing at me. I dodged it flawlessly and sent my fist his way. He defected it, just as I expected him to, but before he had time to regain his stance I twisted and bashed my elbow into his jaw. He stumbled backward, but remained upright.

I brought my leg up to connect with his ribs, but he caught my foot. I didn't give him a chance to do anything with it before I twisted out of his grasp and sent him off balance. I took this chance to sweep my leg under him, knocking him off his feet. I straddled his hips and went right to hit him in the face. I got one good hit in before he caught my wrists, flipping us over.

It felt like déjà vu, once again, it felt like my heart was about to beat right out of my chest. His touch was icy cold, but it burned my skin. I could feel the electricity flow between us.

But this time it was obvious he wasn't going to hit me. For some reason this upset me. I didn't want him doing me any favors in this fight.

"What are you waiting for? Hit me!" I demanded. He chuckled in response.

"No."

"Why?" I questioned.

"I can't," he admitted. Of course he could. What kind of answer was that?

"Sure you can. Just bring your fist to face. Its simple," I argued.

"Its not that simple," he traced his fingers up my arm and to my hand. He interlocked our fingers and planted his other hand next to the side of my head. He leaned in closer to me. He was only a few inches away from my face when he stopped. "It's never that simple when it comes to you."

Next thing I knew his lips crashed against mine. It took me a few second to register what was happening. When I did, I instantly kissed back. He pressed his body up against mine as I ran my finger through his hair. I could feel him smile as he kissed me and I couldn't help but smile back. He deepened the kiss and I pulled him closer to me.

I don't remember hearing it open, but I heard the training room door slam shut. I pulled away from Eric and looked to see who it was. My heart nearly stopped when I discovered who it was.

* * *

**I hope you guys liked it! I'd love to hear what you guys think so feel free to leave a review or shoot me a PM! :)**


	16. Chapter 16

**Thank you guys for all the favorites and alerts! And thank you _cattchmeifyoucan, Emma, ActressCeCe, Ashilz, HeartofGold, yannieXD, Chardineno, MollyEvens, _and_ HannahCourteny _for the reviews! **

**This chapter is kind of short, but I wanted to give you guys something since its been so long since I've updated. School's been pretty busy and we all know how much of a bitch writers block can be lol. Sorry about taking so long.**

**Hope you guys like it!**

* * *

"Four…" I'd never seen my brother look that mad, so full of rage. I had totally forgot that he mentioned that he was going to come and check in on my 'progress'. Out off all things for him to come in to see, this was definitely not something I wanting him to witness. As Eric got off of me, Four sprinted in our direction. Before I knew it, he tackled Eric to the ground. Within a matter of seconds Four began to beat down on Eric.

"Four, stop!" I lunged for Four, trying my best to pull him off. He seemed unfazed by the name as he continued to throw punches Eric's way. I got an elbow to the face for my efforts and was sent stumbling backwards. "Tobias!"

This caused him to pause and look up at me, a fire in eyes that I had only ever seen reflected in my father's. This distraction allowed Eric to shove Four off of him, he pushed himself up and back to his feet.

"What the hells your problem?" Eric went to make an advance towards Four but I stepped in front of him, pushing him back.

"Eric, stop!" To keep him at bay, I placed my hands on his chest, keeping him from lunging at Four.

"I swear to god, you lay another hand on my sister and I'll kill you," Four snarled. I turned to Four, scowling at him. He had no right to tell Eric that. I looked back to Eric, hoping and praying that he didn't catch that.

"Sister?" Eric echoed. "You're telling me…" He looked between the two of us, his face filled with mixed emotions. "When were you planning on telling me?"

He seemed offened by the new information. I didn't have the heart to answer. "You weren't, were you?"

"Eric…"

"Don't _Eric _me. Don't even fucking talk to me right now," he growled, using a cold and harsh tone that he hadn't used with me in nearly two weeks. He brushed past me and Four, grabbing his boots. an

"Eric!" I called, but he ignored me, making his exit out of the train room. "I can't believe you just did that," I turned my attention to my brother.

"Me? What about you! Eric? Really?" He shouted.

"Why are you being such an ass about this? Why do you hate him so much? I don't understand what you have against him!" I was so sick and tired of their petty animosity towards each other. It put me in a position that I most certainly didn't want to be in.

"He killed one of my closes friends, that's why!" His voice shook as the words left his mouth. He ran his hand over his face as he turned away from me.

"What?" I didn't believe what he said. Sure Eric was an asshole a majority of the time, but he wasn't a killer.

"His name was Amar. Amar was divergent, like you and me," he turned back to me. Anger still lined hit features, but it was mixed with grief now. "Amar was helping me hide my divergence during intiation. Somehow Eric found this out and told Max, who's been working with Jeanine. Amar was pulled out of the chasm not long after… they killed him because he was divergent."

I didn't know how to respond. I didn't want to believe him, but he wouldn't have a reason to lie to me, right?

"He's not who you think he is. If he finds out who you are, what you are, he will kill you," he averted his eyes from me and turned to leave.

"Tobias, wait," but he didn't look at me, instead he followed Eric's footsteps and made his way out of the training room, leaving me with nothing but my thoughts.

**XXX**

I absent mindedly made my way to the dinning hall, not knowing were else to go. I was still trying to process what happened in the training room. I didn't know were I stood with Eric. Or my brother for that matter. Just as things were seeming to get better it all came crashing down.

I scanned the dinning hall once I walked through the doors. My eyes found Eric, sitting at a table with Jennifer, Max, and the other two leaders. His face was cold and void of emotion, or at least at first look it was. Then I noticed his clenched jaw and fists. I looked away from Eric, now wasn't the time nor place to try to sort things out with him.

I continued my scan and found Jake not far from me. He was sitting alone, which I thought was odd so I decided to join him. I sat down in front of him, not saying at word.

"Hey," he looked up and smiled at me. That smiled quickly faded as he looked over my face. "What happened?" I was assuming he was referring to the newly forming bruise on my face.

"It was an accident," I vaguely informed him. I couldn't help but let my eyes wander to Eric. He must have felt my eyes on him because he looked up and straight at me. His blue eyes were laced with anger and betrayal. The grimace on his face made it clear that he was none to happy with me at the moment. He quickly looked away and back to the people in front of him.

To think that not even an hour ago we were laughing, joking, making out on the training room floor, and now he didn't want anything to do with me.

"You okay?" Jake asked.

"No, I don't think I am," I admitted. My heart was currently being torn in two different directions and I had no idea what the hell to do. Do I ignore my brother's warning and his hatred for Eric or do I except it and try to put Eric behind me?

"You wanna to talk about?" The answer to the question was simple, yes, I did. But I wasn't sure if I should. I couldn't keep this to myself. I needed help. I needed Jake. He had always been there through thick and thin and if was really my best friend this situation shouldn't change anything.

"Not here," I got up out of my seat and he mirrored my actions. "follow me."

I lead him out of the dinning hall and throught Dauntless. Our trek was made in silence. It wasn't long before we made it to our destination.

I opened the door to the roof and welcomed the fresh air that I hadn't felt in weeks. I took a seat on the ledge and waited for Jake to join me. "So you gonna tell me what's up?"

"What I'm about to tell you, you can't tell anyone, okay?" I knew he wouldn't, but I still need his word.

"Come on, Alex. You know I won't, I swear," and with that I began to explain my current predicament. I revealed that Four was brother, which he was surprised by, but not bothered. When I informed him about what was going on between me and Eric. H certainly didn't approve, but I wasn't looking for his approval, I was looking for his help. Then I went on to explain to him about how I got the mark on my face.

"Why would you put yourself in this situation?" he questioned once I was finished.

"You think I waned to be in this situation? The thing with Eric just kind of…happened. I knew my brother hated him, but I figured it was over petty shit, not because he blamed Eric for the death of one of his friends."

"The only way you're gonna get a straight up answer is from Eric," Jake kicked his feet as they hung over the side of the building.

"He doesn't want anything to do with me right now," I sighed.

"Then maybe that's a good thing," Jake looked back up at me. And I rolled my eyes at him.

"Jake."

"I'm being serious! Whether Four is telling the truth or not, being in any kind of relationship with Eric is asking for trouble," he brought his legs up from the over the side of the building and crossed them, just as mine were.

"You're just saying that because you don't like him," that was the problem when it came Eric. Nobody liked him. To think that all this would be so much easier if he wasn't such a dick to everyone.

"No…okay, well maybe that's part off it, but not all of it," I played with my shoe lace as he spoke.

"You don't understand. He's not as bad as you or everyone else thinks he is. When I'm with him, yeah he's sarcastic, but he's not cruel, he's caring and motivating… if you knew him like I did, you'd probably be friends with him," I chuckled. Eric would probably be friends with a lot of people if they saw him how I did.

"Yeah, okay," he smiled. "Well it's your choice, I'll be here for you no matter what you choose," his blue eyes met mine. "And with Four, just try talking to him. You're the only family he has, and he can't stay upset at you about this forever," he untied the shoe lace I was playing with. "Maybe he still has a little Abnegation in him to forgive you," he joked.

"I don't know… he's changed A LOT since he's come to Dauntless," I smiled at the picture of this little Abnegation boy in my head. My smile slowly faded as I thought about my position with my older brother now. He felt so far out of my reach. I couldn't lose Tobias.

"So have you," Jake informed me. "You've done a total 180 since being here."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Maybe you guys are so used to being siblings in Abnegation, that now you just have to adjust to being siblings in Dauntless. Abnegation to Dauntless is like day to night. They're total opposites. Just give it some time."

Maybe Jake was right. Maybe time and a readjustment was the answer to my problems. But what if they aren't?

* * *

**I hope you guys liked it! I'd love to hear what you guys think so feel free to leave a review or shoot me a PM! :)**


	17. Chapter 17

**Thank you guys for all the favorites and alerts! And thank you _catchmeifyoucan_ and _MollyEvans_ for the reviews.**

**I'm sorry for taking so long to upload these past couple of chapters. The end of school is nearing and this is the busiest time of the year for me. I'll try my best to hopefully get them out faster :)**

* * *

The next morning I groaned as our metal on metal alarmed echoed through the dorms. I hadn't gotten any sleep that night thanks to my mind constantly running over what happened yesterday. Running through how I could fix it, if I could at all. I looked to see who had woken us up.

I eyes met his for a brief moment before he turned and made his way out of the room. I threw the sheets off me and chased after him. It was the first time I'd seen him since he walked out of the training room yesterday.

"Four!" I shouted as I made it into the hall. He looked over his shoulder and stopped.

"You should be getting ready, Initiate," his tone cold and smooth.

"Please. Can I talk to you?" I padded over to him, my bare feet cold against the stone floor. Once I was close enough, he motioned for me to follow him. He led me to a side hallway not far from the dorms. He opened the first door on the left and held it open for me. It looked like some sort of supply room, but it was huge, easily big enough to fit 15 people comfortable.

As soon as he closed the door behind him I began to speak. "I'm sorry, okay? I don't know what else to say. I didn't pick him out of spite, it just happened. I can't change how I feel about him and vise versa, but I don't want to lose you over this," I admitted.

"Alex," he started, taking in a deep breath before he continued. "This isn't something to just forgive and forget. Just because you like him doesn't mean I can just forget what he's done."

"I'm not asking you to be his best friend, I'm just asking you to not make me choose."

"So even after what I told you, you still want to be involved with him?" He snapped. "I don't want you anywhere near him."

"You only have one side of the story. I want to hear it from him. Depending on his answer, I'll go from there," I knew Tobias wouldn't lie to me, but I also didn't believe Eric was a killer. There was a piece missing in this puzzle and I wasn't going to label Eric until I found it.

"You're my little sister, I can't stand the sight of you with him. After all the shit he put you through… he's dangerous." His anger was starting to fade into worry.

"Just trust me, please?" I grabbed his hand in both of mine.

"I trust you, but I don't trust him," he looked skeptically at me.

"I'm not asking you to trust him. I'm asking you to trust me. You can hate him as much as you want, but please just don't hate me…" I begged.

"I don't hate you, Alexandra, I love you," he squeezed my hand slightly. "I just never imagined you ever doing something like this with someone like him."

"People change…" was all I had in response to that.

"Trust me, I know."

We were silent for a few seconds fore I spoke again. "So can I have my big brother back?"

"You never lost him," I could see that he was trying to give me a reassuring smile, but at he same time I could tell that he still wasn't okay with all of this. He squeezed my hand before stepping back to opened the door. I'm not sure we'll be like we were before, but this was a start."You need to get ready, you have a big day ahead of you." I gave him a small smile and made my way back to the dorms.

I stood next to Jake as I anxiously played with the hem of my shirt. The heat of all the bodies around me made it difficult to breath which didn't help the situation. I heard a cheer and stopped to look at the screens that were off to my left. The screens showed a black clothed boy in the fear landscape room; Aidan. I watched him as he moved, his eyes wide, but I couldn't tell what fear he was facing. Thank god no one out here will see my fears either, just my reactions. But Eric would see them and so will the rest of the leaders.

I hadn't spoken to Eric since he walked out of the training room yesterday. He refused to look at me, and when he did, it wasn't a pleasant look. The fact that Eric was back to treating me the way he did in the beginning of initiation made me feel like I took a thousand steps backwards. And now he was going to see my worst fears. He was going to see Marcus, my mother, and every nightmare that kept me up at night.

The order in which we go in the fear landscape is the order in which we ranked, which means I go last. The lights flicker on to reveal Aidan in a crouch. I watched as Eric, Max, Jennifer, and the other two leaders shake off the simulation daze and join Aidan in the landscape room, congratulating him on passing. My eyes followed Aidan as he left the room, his complexion whiter than a sheet.

Jake was called next, leaving me by myself. Eric injected the serum into Jake. My heart beat quickened, dreading the moment when he would have to do the same to me. Seeing Jake go through the simulation made my anxiety shoot through the roof. I was surprised at how fast Jake was moving through the simulations. I knew that he was second only to me, but I didn't think that he was that close on my heels in the ranks.

I lost track on the minutes that it took him to complete the fear landscape, but it wasn't long till Jake was heading out of the room and my name was being called. I swallowed hard and walked to the front of the room, where Eric stood with a syringe full of orange liquid.

His expression was cold as I approached him. I averted my eyes from him, finding the hem of my shirt again. I stiffened at the touch of his hand brushing across my neck as he moved my hair out of the way. His hand lingered on my neck as he brought the syringe up.

"Ready?" he asked as the needle pierced my skin.

"No," I admitted. I didn't look up at him as he pressed the plunger down and removed the needle from my neck.

"Your _brother _did just fine, so should you," his emphasis on the word brother made me cringe. I finally looked up at him, meeting not a cold expression, but a hurt one.

"Eric," I started.

"Go before the serum kicks in," he dismissed me and motioned towards the room where my worst fears would become reality. For once, I did as I was told without any retort.

I quickly navigated through my fear landscape, making my way past my fears of confined spaces, drowning, being buried alive and being forced to kill my brother. I braced myself for next fear, expecting to end up back in my old home in Abnegation. As I fazed into my next sim, I wasn't met with bare grey walls, but with the dark, damp, walls of a hallway, a hallway in Dauntless that I knew all too well.

I hadn't been here since Seth attacked me. As soon as the thought of him came to my mind, Seth appeared at the end of the corridor. His face wasn't cruel, as a matter of fact it seemed as if he was almost happy. I tried to move by my feet they were firmly plant on the ground. As Seth approached I started to panic. I had never faced this fear before and I had no idea how to get out of it.

"I don't know how you did it," Seth commented as he finally stood in front of me. "I don't know how you survived." Before I could register what was happing he swiftly pulled a knife from behind him and drove into my torso. I yelped as I fell to my knees. "Maybe you'll realize you're better off dead this time."

I could slowly feel the warmth begin to leave my body through the hole in my chest. Liquid was started to creep up my throat. I wondered what would come first, death by loss of blood, or drowning in it. I forced myself to look back up a Seth. But it wasn't Seth standing over me anymore, it was Eric. His face was cold and cruel, a smug smile made its home on his face.

"Eric, please," I begged. I couldn't resist as a cough racked my body, bring blood up with it.

"I should never had saved you. I should have just let you bleed out," he stated, his tone sharp and harsh.

"You don't mean that," I struggled to speak as my blood began to clog my throat once again.

"But I do. You are the biggest pain in the ass I've ever had the misfortune of dealing with," he spoke down to me as I tried to keep my self upright. "You're a coward, you don't belong here. You never have and you never will. You didn't even had the courage to tell who you really were."

"You're right, I'm sorry," I admitted. "I didn't want to lose you," I fell to my side, all my strength drained through my torso.

"You never had me to begin with," was the last thing I was able to make out before Eric faded into the shadows. I was left laying there, minutes, maybe hours ticking by as I bled out. I didn't know what to do or how to get out of this sim. I just laid there, accepting my fate as I felt my eyes begin to water. My vision slowly faded into black and I was transported to my house in Abnegation to face my family.

I stood alone in the empty room with the concrete wall, shaking. I sunk to my knees, wrapping my arms around my chest. I took a deep breath as I tried to wipe the sweat from my palms. It wasn't long before the Dauntless leaders made their way into the room. I forced myself to my feet. My eyes followed their movement as they stood in front of me.

"Congratulations, Alex," Max said. "You've successfully completed your final evaluation." I tried to smile, but I couldn't force myself to.

"Thanks," I nodded in Max's direction but my eyes found their way to Eric. He stood quietly behind his fellow leaders, his eyes to the ground, refusing to look at me.

"The banquet is in two hours," my attention was draw back to Jennifer as she spoke. "Your ranking among the other initiates, Dauntless-born included, will be announced there. Good luck."

I waited till they filed out of the room before I made my way out. I saw Four waiting by the door. As I walked through it, he followed suit.

"6 fears is pretty impressive," he stated as we turned down a corridor.

"Not as impressive as four," I countered. I really wasn't in the mood to talk about it to be honest. All of the leaders, including Eric, saw my worst fears. They saw my abusive father and my new fear that I had just recently learned about myself.

"Last I counted in your training sims you only had five," I was glad that his cold tone was gone and at this moment he was talking to me as a sibling, not as an instructor.

"Well, that was before I was attacked," the fear was based off the attacked, but there was a hidden message there, it had something to do with Eric and I think I was starting to figure out what it was.

"It was your second to last fear, wasn't it?"

"How did you know that?" I stopped and faced him before we reached the dorms.

"That's the fear that took you the longest to get out of," he looked at me suspiciously, like he knew I was hiding something.

"I told you I was rusty," I couldn't tell him it had anything to do with Eric. I didn't know how he was going to react to that and I was already on thin ice with him. "I'm gonna go get ready for the banquet."

He paused for a second before responding. "Okay, I'll see you then."

I turned on my heels, picking up my pace as I made my way away from my brother.

Olivia, Kristen, and I took our seats next to Jake and Aidan once we entered the dinning hall. The room was packed with a sea of black clothed and rowdy Dauntless. I couldn't help but smile at the sight.

"So, how many fears did you guys have? I had eleven." Kristen asked, her Erudite curiosity seeping through her Dauntless exterior.

"Thirteen," Olivia pouted.

"I had ten," Aidan stated proudly.

"Eight," Jake shrugged as if eight fears was no big deal. Eight fears was not a normal number for an average person. Was it possible that Jake was divergent? He would have told me, right? Then again, I've kept my divergence from him.

"Six," I stated last. Everyone looked at me wide eyed.

"Six?" Kristen spoke for the group. "How did you manage that?"

I just shrugged in response. I was divergent that's how. But that was privileged information that I couldn't share with them.

A microphone squealed somewhere, the high pitched sound causing me to cringe. I looked across the room to find Max standing on one of the tables with the microphone in hand, tapping it with his finger. Once the tapping had finished, the Dauntless settled down. Max cleared his throat as he began.

"We aren't big on speeches here. We'll leave that to the Erudite," he started. The crowd snickered. "I'm gonna keep this short. This year we have a new pack of initiates, now new members. We offer them our congratulations."

Before Max could even finish his sentence the sea of Dauntless erupted into applause. "We believe in bravery. In small acts of bravery that strives one person to stand up for another. We believe in the freedom from fear and in the concept of protecting those who can't protect themselves. If you believe in those things, then we welcome you with open arms."

His words made me grin and feel a sense of belonging. Why? Because I believed in those things. No matter what challenges that were presented to this faction, to anyone as an individual, those core values never wavered.

"Tomorrow, in their first acts as members, our new members will choose their profession, in order of how they are ranked." Max's words made me realize that I was so focused on getting through initiation that I hadn't even thought of what I might want to do afterwards.

"I know the ranking are what everyone has been waiting for. As you know, they are a combination of all three phases," I looked around for my brother, but couldn't find him in the crowd. I did find Eric though, who was standing on the ground next to Max. Our eyes met for a brief moment before I looked away. After my fear landscape I couldn't even conceive the thought of talking to him.

"Now, for the moment you've all been waiting for," Max smiled as he point behind him. "The ranks will appear behind me."

My eyes shot to the screen he was pointing too, eager to learn if I had kept my place at the top or not.

* * *

**I hope you guys liked it! I'd love to hear what you guys think so feel free to leave a review or shoot me a PM! :)**


	18. Chapter 18

**Thank you guys for all the favorites and alerts! And thank you _mrsbishop21, MollyEvens, DeadpoolLovesTacos, and cattchmeifyoucan_ for the reviews!**

**Hope you guys like it!**

* * *

_1\. Jake_

_2\. Alex_

_3\. Aidan_

_4\. Seth_

_5\. Adam_

_6\. Luke_

_7\. Dean_

_8\. Olivia_

_9\. Paul_

_10\. Kristen _

After I spotted Kristen's name, my eyes dropped away from the board. I was second. But how?

I didn't have time to process my ranking as I was tapped on the shoulder. I turned to find Four standing behind me. "Congrats, Kiddo."

I stood and smiled at him. "I'm I allowed to hug you?"

I received my answer as he pulled me in for a bear hug. "I'm proud of you."

"Thanks, I couldn't have done it without you," I pulled away to see Aidan, Kristen, and Olivia sending us confused looks. Jake on the other, had a smile planted on his.

"You didn't need me," he smiled. It was nice to feel like we were getting back on the same page, starting to put the Eric thing behind us. "Go celebrate with your friends."

With that he said a farewell and made his way back over to Zeke and Shauna. As my eyes followed Four, they found a young leader that was still standing patiently next to Max. Just like always, his expression was unreadable. I pulled my eyes away from him and turned back to my friends.

"Who wants a drink?"

The next morning we all sat around a table in the dinning hall. Today was the day that we picked our jobs and started our lives in Dauntless. We would be called in order from which we were ranked. Jake was called first and sat across from the Dauntless leaders as they discussed his job options.

I never asked Jake what he wanted to do. I didn't even know myself what I wanted to do. Being second I had a lot of options, but would I like any of those options? What jobs could I see myself do for years to come? I'd never really thought that far. My first goal in life was to escape my father. Check. Next, pass initiation. Check. Now what?

Jake must have known exactly what he wanted to do because it didn't take him long to rejoin us at the table. "So," Aidan started. "What'd you pick?"

"Tattoo artist," Jake stated proudly.

"Are you serious? You rank first and you choose to be a tattoo artist?" Kristen exclaimed.

"It's all I've ever wanted to do," Jake shrugged. He answer wasn't a surprise to me. Ever since I'd met Jake he had an obsession with tattoos. He was covered in them. He had two full sleeves and a few on his legs and he was only 16.

"Alex!" My head whipped around as I heard Max call my name. I gave my friends one last glance before taking my place across from our five leaders. But I was only worried about one. The youngest. The coldest. The most misunderstood.

"Congratulation on passing and ranking second, Alex," One of the unknown male leaders said. "I'm Leo," he said introducing himself. He looked to be the oldest among the group of leaders. There were specks of grey showing through his black hair. His green eyes were filled with experience and compassion. He must have been the kindest, that's why I'd never heard of him. "This is Jason," he said motioning to the young man beside him.

Jason's hair was a dirty blond that brought out his blue eyes. He was definitely attractive, I couldn't help but to smile back as he smiled at me. "And I'm sure you know Max, Jennifer, and Eric." My eyes found the owner to the last name on that list. If he stared any harder at the table he might burn a hole through it.

"Nice to meet you," I smiled.

"Now, before you look at any of the other jobs available to you, we have an offer for you," Leo continued.

"Is that so?"

"Well, very soon, I'll be stepping down from my leadership position and I would know Dauntless was in good hands if you'd take my position," my jaw nearly dropped at his proposition. Me? A leader? I noticed that Eric took his eyes off the able and let his eyes rest on me.

"Are you serious?" I didn't quite believe his words. "I was only ranked second though. Why not Jake?"

"You were the obvious choice," Leo brushed off the last part about Jake. "You're the daughter of Marcus Eaton, Abnegation's leader, so you clearly have leadership in your blood," a chill was sent down my back at the name _Marcus Eaton._

"I don't want the job if that's your only reasoning as to why you picked me," I snapped, offended.

"No of course not," Max interrupted. "You've shown your leadership in the ranking and as well as during capture the flag when you lead your team to victory. You were the underdog coming into Dauntless from Abnegation, but climbed all the way up the ranks. You're exactly what we're looking for."

"But I only ranked second," I argued.

"That was only due to your final evaluation," My head turned as Eric spoke. I was surprised to hear him make himself known in the conversation. Although I wanted nothing more than to look away from him, I was forced to look at him as he continued. "You spent too much time in your second to last simulation, allowing Jake to get a better time than you. That sim cost you your first rank status." I couldn't read his facial expression as he mentioned the simulation, but it was far from cold.

"What?" Was all I could manage. That fear was the only thing that kept me from placing first. I let fear get the better of me in that sim and because of that I fell in the rankings.

Jason cleared his throat as he began to speak. "We need an answer, Alex."

"Would I have to see my father?" I felt like a coward asking that question, but I needed to know.

"Yes, on occasion when the faction leaders come together and discuss what's happening in our factions, keeping the others updated," Max informed me. I bit my lip subconsciously, playing with my lip ring. Could I do it? Be a leader that is. I didn't have an answer to that question, but I desperately wanted, needed, one.

"Okay, I'll do it, but under one condition," I smirked.

"What is it?" Leo asked.

"I want to train initiates, I want to be an instructor," I don't know why, but I felt like that would be something I would be good at. Plus, I would love working with my brother a few weeks out of the year.

"Okay, that can be arranged," Leo agreed.

"Your training with Eric starts the day after tomorrow," Max finalized.

"Wait, what?" I almost choked on my own spit.

"Eric will be training you for a majority of your leadership training. He's the youngest and has gone through this the most recently. There will be some times when you spend time with myself, Jennifer, Jason, or Leo, but most of it will be spent with Eric," Max informed me. "Is that a problem?"

"Not at all," I lied. Well, fuck me. I glanced over in Eric's direction and I swear to god I saw a hint of a smirk on his face.

"You'll be given a room on the top floor with the rest of us," Jason smiled.

"I'll show you where it is after we're down here," Jennifer offered.

"Sounds great," and with that I got up and headed back to my original seat, thinking about what the hell I'd just gotten myself into.

Once everyone had picked a job, I waited patiently for Jennifer. I told my friends to go on without me, telling them I would meet up with them later. None of them seemed surprised when I told them what my new position would be. Aidan had chosen to work in the control room, Olivia in the infirmary, and Kristen picked to work on the fence.

Jennifer dismissed herself from the other leaders and made her way over to me with a smile on her face. Her green eyes stood out against her black clothes and her brown hair was pulled into a neat ponytail. "Ready?"

I nodded and she began to lead the way. We stopped by the dorm so I could pick up my things. Afterwards we make our way to the apartments. "It'll be great to have a another female leader."

"Yeah? When was the last time there was another female leader you?" I asked, trying to continue the small talk as we crossed the pit.

"Um, last year?" She thought of a moment. "Yeah, last year. Eric replaced her. Her named was Veronica."

"Was she a good leader?" I found myself getting more comfortable with Jennifer. She seemed very carefree and down to earth.

"Yeah, she was great, I loved her. Everyone did," she looked over at me and smirked. "You remind me a lot of her."

"Really?" I was surprised by the comparison. I was far from a great leader, at least at the moment. "I still don't know why you guys picked me," I chuckled.

"You were the first choice for everyone," she shrugged. "Everyone agreed that you'd be the perfect fit. Even Eric agreed, which was surprising, seeing that all he did was complain about you during initiation," she laughed.

"I made it my goal to be a pain in his ass," I proudly stated.

"Yeah and we all got an earful for it at meals," Jennifer continued to laugh as we started up a flight of stairs. "I can see why now."

I raised my eyebrow in confusion, requesting her to continue. "You and your brother are very similar. Eric and Four have always clashed so it was only expected that you and Eric would as well."

"Well, we can't be that similar or else he would be a leader," I joked.

"Four was offered leadership, but turned it down. Eric took his place," she informed me. This was news to me.

"Why would he do that?" I questioned. I didn't understand why someone would turn down leadership. We stepped off onto the top floor as we continued talking.

"Nobody knows. He just decided that he didn't want to the job," maybe if Tobias turned it down I should have turned it down as well. There had to be a reason that he decided against being a leader.

"Here's your stop," Jennifer smiled as she stopped in front on an apartment door. She pulled a set of two keys out of her pocket and dangled them in front of me. "These are your keys."

I took the keys from her and smiled in return. "Thanks."

"I'm right next door," she pointed behind her to the door on the left. "Eric is on the other side," Great. "Jason is next to me, Max next to him, and Leo is the furthest door down. If you ever need anything don't be afraid to come on over and ask."

"Will do."

"I'm gonna head back downstairs. Go head and get settled in.," I nodded in response and watched as she walked away.

I slipped my key in to the door and unlocked it. I made my way inside, closing the door behind me. The apartment looked very similar to Eric's, except it felt a little more homey. Maybe that was just because it was mine. I spent the next little while unpacking my stuff and exploring my new home.

I had just finished putting a fresh new set of black sheets on my bed when I heard a knock on my door. I thought it was odd, but I was assuming that it was Jennifer, checking on me to see how I was doing.

I made my way over to the door, opening it. To say the least it wasn't the pretty brunette leader that I was expecting.

* * *

**I hope you guys liked it! I'd love to hear what you guys think so feel free to leave a review or shoot me a PM! :)**


	19. Chapter 19

**Thank you guys for all the favorites and alerts. And thank you _DeadpoolLoveTacos, HeartOfGold, mrsbishop, IloveTheWay2, ActressCeCe, MollyEvans, StardustSpike, and fangirl366 _for the reviews!**

**Once again I'm really sorry for taking so long to update, but I've been super busy as of late with sports and school. Also, I didn't really know where I wanted to go with this chapter so sorry if it's not that great :/**

** And most, if you no all of you, guessed who was at the door lol way to ruin the fun guys! :P**

**Hope you guys like it!**

* * *

I sighed at the sight of Eric at my door. Not saying anything, I stepped aside, allowing him into my apartment. I closed the door behind him as he entered my home. I was hoping he would say something first because I had no idea what to say to him. His expression was a mix of emotions, none of which I could pin point.

"Congrats on becoming a leader," he said almost awkwardly. His visit had nothing to do with me becoming a leader. His tone and body language gave that away. I watched as he scratched the back on his neck, looking away from me.

"Why are you here, Eric?" I questioned. After all the back and forth between us I need this, whatever it was, cleared up.

"I don't know," he admitted. He looked back up at me. "But I know that I'm sorry for all the shit I've given you."

"What?" Did he just _apologize_? I wouldn't have expected that from him.

"After I watched your fear landscape…" He started, but I didn't want to talk about it. I went to brush past him to get to the kitchen and away from this conversation. Eric grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards him, forcing me to face him. "You can't run from this conversation. We need to talk about this."

"No, we don't," I tried to pull away from him, but he wouldn't let me go.

"Is that why you didn't tell me about Four? Because you didn't want me to know about Marcus?"

My eyes shot to the ground, wanting to avoid his. My actions all but confirmed his questions. Sure there was a little more to it, but that was the root of it. He brought his hand up and lifted my chin. "I didn't want you to look at me like I was a kicked puppy. And I didn't want you to hate me because you hate my brother."

"Four being your brother doesn't change anything. I wasn't pissed because he was your brother, I was pissed that you didn't tell me," I looked back up at him and met his eyes. They weren't mad, or judgmental, or even pitiful, they were understanding. But just the thought of Marcus made me cringe. I didn't want to talk about my father.

"My father wasn't the only thing you saw in my fear landscape though," he dropped my wrist.

"No, it wasn't." I wanted to reach out and take his hand, but I couldn't bring myself to. I remembered his face. His sinister smirk as he called me a coward. As he watched me bleed to death. "Are you afraid of me?"

"It wasn't you that I was afraid of," I countered. I've never been afraid of Eric. I always challenged him, making sure he knew that I didn't fear him, but I could understand how he would think that. "My whole world fell apart in that simulation. I was dying and there was nothing I could do. And then there was you."

His eyes dropped from mine and to his boots. "That sim cost you your ranking."

"I didn't know how to get out of it. I'd never had that fear before." If anything I blamed Seth for my second place ranking. He's the one who had me sidelined.

"Did you mean what you said?" He asked. I swallowed hard as I thought about how to answer.

"Yeah, I did. I didn't tell you because… I didn't want to lose you," I grabbed his hand and he intertwined his fingers with mine. "Why?" Why was it so important that he knew that?

He didn't answer me. He just stared at our hands. I stepped closer to him. "Why, Eric?"

"Don't make me say it," he pleaded, squeezing my hand slightly. Say what?

"Why?"

He took in a sharp breath and met my blue eyes. "I just… I'd never felt anything like this towards anyone and then you came along and I…" he stopped, not knowing whether to continue or not.

"What? You what?" I encouraged.

"I started to feel something. I started to feel something other than anger or sadness, but it killed me at first, it scared the living shit out of me." That was something I'd never thought I'd hear. Eric, the Dauntless leader, _afraid _of me. "That's why I was such a dick to you. I wanted those feelings to stop."

"And now?"

"Now?" He repeated, dropping my hand. "I don't want them to stop," he cupped my face in his hands and pulled me closer to him, pressing his lips to mine. I instantly kissed him back. His hands dropped to my waist, closing the space between us. I wrapped my arms around his neck and ran my fingers through his hair. He tugged slightly on my lip ring with his teeth, earning a moan from me.

He smiled at this and crushed his lips back against mine, deepening the kiss. His hand made its way under my shirt and he placed his hand at the small of my back. His cold touch seared my skin.

He stepped away from me, leading me towards the couch. He plopped down on the black leather and pulled me along and onto his lap. His mouth found mine again and I snaked my arms around his neck.

That's how we stayed for most of the morning, kissing and talking. It was almost time for lunch before I heard a knock on my door. "Leave it," he whined.

"Who knew you were such a baby," I teased as I tried to get off his lap.

"You wanna run that past me again?" He smirked, a mischievous glare is his eye as he kept my from leaving his lap.

"You heard me," I stuck my tongue out at him as I just barely escaped from his grasp. As I made my way to the door, he got up from the couch. I twisted the doorknob, cracking it slightly see who it was.

"Four," I stated surprised. Shit.

"Hey, I wanted to talk to you about something," I stared at my brother for a moment, trying to think about what to do. I didn't want him to know that me and Eric were still a thing. We were just starting to get along again.

"Come in," I opened the door. "He was just leaving," I growled in a harsh tone as I looked at Eric, hoping he would play along. He seemed taken a little off guard, but understood what I was trying to do.

"Whatever," he snarled, rolling his eyes, giving the impression that we had just put an end to an argument and not a make-out session.

He stormed past me and brushed past Four, leaving us alone.

"What the hell was that about?" He questioned, seeming upset by Eric's presences.

"Nothing," I lied. "All I can say is don't worry about Eric anymore, it's not gonna work between us."

"Good," he simply answered, taking a seat on the couch.

"So what did you want to talk about?" I asked, trying to change the topic.

"The leadership position you just accepted," I walked away from him and into the kitchen, opening the cabinets.

"Yeah, what about it?" I grabbed a glass out of the cabinet.

"Why did you take it?"

"Why not?" By the tone of his voice I could tell that he wasn't happy about my new job.

"For someone who's divergent, that's a dangerous position to be in. You're right in their face," I filled my glass up with water and made my way back over to the couch.

"If anything that's the safest place to be. I'd be in their inner circle, they wouldn't suspect me," I countered. "Plus, I'll aways know what's going on."

"All Max wants is a yes man," Four continued to argue.

"Four," I started.

"Don't call me that," he flinched. "At least not just when it's us. It's nice to hear my name again."

"Okay. Tobias," I corrected myself. "Even if that's the case, it still puts me in a safe position. Just because you turned it down doesn't mean I had too."

"I turned it down for reason, Alexandra," he signed, realizing no matter what he said I wasn't shifting my view on leadership.

"Well, I didn't have one," I shrugged. As I finished off the last of my water, my stomach growled. I got up off the couch. "I'm gonna go get some food, you wanna come?" I asked, trying to end this pointless conversation. I didn't want to argue with him. I hated arguing with my brother. It was rare, but still unpleasant.

"Yeah, sure," he signed once again as he gave up trying to discourage my choice and joined me as I headed towards the door.

The walk to the dining hall was short, yet quiet. Tobias finally broke the silence as we turned down the finale corridor before the dinning hall. "I'm just worried about you, Alex."

"I know, and I appreciate it, but I can take care of myself, okay?" I reassured him.

"Okay," were his lasts words to me before we walked through the double doors. I scanned the room for my friends, but failed to locate them. My eyes stopped there search as I found Jennifer, Eric, and Max sitting at their table. Jennifer looked up and smiled when she saw me. She waved me over. After I grabbed my food with Tobias, we parted ways and I made my way toward Jennifer and the others.

Once I reached the table, I took a seat next Eric, Max and Jennifer sat across from us.

"You settle into your apartment okay?" Jennifer asked. I couldn't help but glance over at Eric who had a smirk on his face.

"Yeah, I did. I love," I smiled.

"That's good to hear," she smiled back.

"Alex," Max grabbed my attention as he said my name, "We have a faction meeting coming up with the other leaders next week and I would like you to come so we can introduce you to the others. But if you don't think you're ready for that.."

"No, I'll be fine." I could tell that he was hesitant about telling me this.

"You don't have to talk to Marcus or even look at him. We're mainly looking to introduce you to Jeanine," Max stated.

"Um, yeah, okay," I swallowed hard at the thought of having to face my father. I felt Eric's hand find mine under the table, squeezing it slightly.

"He's not gonna try anything," I looked at Eric as he spoke. "But if he does, me and Jason will take care of him," his sinister smirked made an appearance, as if he wanted Marcus to try something.

"Eric," Max reprimanded. "Don't start a faction war, please."

"No promises," he shrugged. He seemed so unguarded around them. It seemed as if I had finally found his group of friends. He was at the bottom of the food chain in the leaders due to the fact that he was the newest and youngest so he didn't have that same sense of superiority around them. It was nice to see him act like around other people besides me.

I zoned out as the three of them continued on with the conversation, my mind drifting to thoughts of coming face to face with Marcus in just a week. Was I ready for that? I hoped so.

* * *

**I hope you guys liked it! I'd love to hear what you guys think so feel free to leave a review or shoot me a PM! :)**


	20. Chapter 20

**Thank you guys for all the favorites and alerts! And thank you _Icy eyed Angel, DeadpoolLovesTacos, LoveFerrin, HeatOfGold, StardustSpike, MollyEvens, ruerue123, _and _fangirl366 _for all the reviews! They mean a hell of a lot to me :)**

**I hope you guys like it! Again, sorry for the slow update :/**

* * *

"You ready?" Eric asked as I opened the door of my apartment. I'd been asking myself that question all week. I hadn't told Tobias that I would be stuck in the same room as Marcus today, I wasn't sure how that conversation would go and I didn't want to risk anything.

"As ready as I'll ever be," I sighed. The meeting would take place at Erudite's headquarters, which made me even more uneasy about this whole thing.

I pulled a sleeveless vest over my tucked in v-neck. I pulled the door closed behind me and I stepped out next to Eric. He was wearing a leather jacket over a tight black t-shirt. I saw his eyes scan over my tattoos before looking up at me. "You'll be fine, I promise."

He led me forward, his hand on the small of my back. We met the others in front of the compound where a car was waiting for us. Eric's hand dropped as we piled into the automobile.

The hum of the car was met by the hum of conversation between the leaders. "You good?"

I turned and was met by Jennifer and her raised eyebrow of curiosity. "Yeah, I'm good."

"There's a reason you didn't have an aptitude for Candor," she chuckled.

I shrugged as a hint of a smile found a place on my face. It wasn't long until we reached Erudite. The lit building stood out against the night sky. We poured out of the car and made our way inside.

We were greeted by a clean cut gentleman in a blue suit. He led us to the elevator that would lead us to our destination. I noticed the hint of familiarity in Eric's eyes as I looked at him. I had forgotten he had been apart of this faction once. I couldn't help but smile at the thought of a little geeky, tattooless, Eric with glasses and a tucked in, buttoned down, blue shirt. He leaned up against the wall at the back of the elevator next to me.

He grabbed my hand, intertwining our fingers. I looked at him while eyed. Out of all places to do this. Right now we were on the down low and holding my hand in a room full of leaders is not a smart way to keep it that way.

He smirked and leaned down, whispering in my ear, "They're too focused on remembering their basic manners to concern themselves with anything else at the moment."

I looked ahead to find Max, Leo, Jason, and Jennifer shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot, to worried about the noise in their head to pay any attention to me and Eric.

His hand unfortunately released mine when the elevator doors opened. I walked out ahead of him, following the path traced my those who were ahead of me.

I couldn't help but admire the simplicity, yet technological look to Erudite. We travel through a maze of white before we finally came to a gentleman that had been acting as our guide gracefully opened a large steel door that opened up into a large conference room.

My heart began to speed up slightly as I started my involuntary scan of the room. My eyes stopped first on the brightest person in the room. Layered in red and yellow, I assumed to be Johanna Reyes, the speaker of Amity. Next my eyes caught blue. Blue worn by the one and only Jeanine Mathews. Her blond hair contrasting against her navy blue blazer as she smiled at us. Jack Kang, the leader of Candor stood a few feet from her in his black and white attire.

I didn't want to, but something in me pulled my attention in the direction of the two figures dressed in grey. I physically stopped as I saw him, causing Eric to walk into me.

"Alex," he said lowly, urging me forward.

Andrew Prior smiled as he laid eyes on me. I smiled back, it was hard to believe such a good man would follow my father. My father, the man standing next to him. I let my eyes drift in his direction and instantly I made eye contact with his harsh, steel blue eyes. I had to will myself to not cower away from his glare. I could see as the rage filled his eyes, the same rage that filled them as I walked out of the Choosing Ceremony with Dauntless.

"Welcome!" Jeanine greeted us. She walked over and began to shake Max's hand. Then moving to Leo, Jason, Jennifer, Eric, and the myself. "I don't think we've met before. I'm Jeanine Mathews." Well, duh.

"I'm Alex," I smiled as I shook her hand.

"Alex, will be replacing Leo in our leadership so we figured it'd best start her off as soon as possible," Max informed her, a smiled on his face. Wow, what a kiss ass. I could just see it in his expression.

"Well, congratulation on the new position, Alex… what was your last name?" My heart nearly stopped at the question. I couldn't just _not _ answer her question. It was Jeanine Mathews for christ sake.

"Eaton. Alex Eaton," I said, almost ashamed to have any connection to the man standing barely halfway across the room.

"Eaton? Any relation to Marcus Eaton?" She asked, but I'm pretty sure she already new the answer to that question.

"Unfortunately," I mumbled and received a jab in the side by Eric.

"She's my daughter," I nearly cringed at the sound of his voice as he approached us. His façade was firmly in place as he took on his role as Abnegation's leader and not the enraged father.

I felt Eric tense as he stepped slightly closer. "You must be so proud," god, I wished she would just stop talking already.

"Very," he smiled, but I saw far beyond the smile.

"Alexandra," Andrew could feel the tension and interrupted, sticking his hand out for me to shake. "You've come a long way."

"A VERY long way," Eric chirped in.

"Yes, very," I smiled as I shook his hand. Andrew was good man, but he still new what my father did to me and Tobias and didn't do shit to help us.

Leo, greatly saving my ass from having to carry on with this conversation, then insisted that I get introduced to the other leaders.

Once Johanna and Jack had been made aware of my existence we started the meeting. To be honest, as soon as I had sat down I zoned out. No offense, I really could care less what was going on with Amity and Candor. I didn't realize how long it would take to get through all this information. I popped out of my day dream for a few minutes as Marcus and Andrew updated the group about Abnegation, but it was pretty much just all unless information.

"Okay," Jeanine's voice brought me back to the conversation at hand. "We'll take a short break before we continue on with Dauntless and Erudite." Thank god.

"I'm gonna go use the bathroom," I whispered to Eric as I stood up. He nodded in response.

I made my way to the door and asked the same gentleman who guided us here where the restroom was. He pointed me in the right direction and I was on my way. I didn't actually have to go, I just wanted to get out of the room. Out from under the constant glare of my father.

It was only about a minute travel time before I spotted my destination. I suddenly had an eerie feeling someone was behind me. I couldn't hear them, but I could _feel _them.

I turned just in time to see Marcus close the gap between us as his hand wrapped around my throat, thrusting me into the wall. I saw a few spots as my head bashed against up the wall.

"A Dauntless leader? Did you want to come and mock me? To embarrass me with your tattoos and piercings? To show the whole world that I raised a selfish little punk?" He growled, his fingers digging into my flesh.

I knew I should do something. I was trained for this. I was taught to defend myself. Yet, there I stayed, frozen, terrified, as my vision started to fade.

"I'd rather be branded as a selfish little punk than your daughter," I choked.

I didn't think it was possible, but his grip got tighter, my retort pouring gasoline on the fire that reflected in his hateful eyes. He was going to kill me and I wasn't doing anything about it. I couldn't move. I was too scared. I was a coward.

Just as the last sliver of vision began to slip away from me, a fist shot into view, hitting Marcus square in the jaw. I dropped to the floor along with Marcus. My hands shot to my neck as I began to cough, struggling to breath.

"Well, so much for not starting a faction war."

* * *

**I hope you guys liked it! I'd love to hear what you guys think so feel free to leave a review or shoot me a PM! :)**


	21. Chapter 21

**Thank you guys for all the favorites and alerts! And thank you _cattchmeifyoucan, DeadpoolLovesTacos, StardustSpike, hugabunny, fangril366, Rose. .gril, Sugesstion123456, HeartOfGold, MollyEvens, __Alexandra _for the reviews!**

**Sorry that it's been taking so long between updates guys :/**

**I'm not really sure where to go after this chapter because writers block is a bitch. Feel free to throw some suggestions my way :)**

* * *

"Well, so much for not starting a faction war," I heard Jennifer sigh as I coughed, trying to catch my breath. I looked over Eric's shoulder as he crouched down next to me. Her facial expression lead me to believe that she wasn't surprised by Eric's actions.

My attention was brought back to Eric as he took my face in his hands. "You okay?" The worried look that was cast over his featured mirrored the one that he wore when I was in the infirmary.

"That depends on your definition of okay," my voice was hoarse, but I could feel the oxygen flowing through my lungs again.

His worried look remained, but he smiled slightly. I looked over at Jennifer as Eric helped me to my feet. She had a smiled on her face as she looked between the two of us. So much for trying to stay on the down low.

Once I was on my feet, Eric's attention strayed from me to Marcus. Marcus groaned, rubbing his jaw as he stood. Eric's look of worry was soon replace by anger and rage, a look that I was quite familiar with.

I shot Jennifer a look and she knew exactly what was going to happen. I grabbed Eric's arm as he stepped forward, Jennifer placed her hand on his shoulder. "Eric, don't," she cautioned. We might have gotten away with Eric not doing anything stupid, but that chance flew out the window when Marcus got in his face.

"This is none of your business! You have no right-," Marcus started. He was embarrassed, it was written all over his face. I wasn't sure what he was embarrassed about though; being knocked on his ass by Eric or being caught red handed portraying something other than his Abnegation leader façade.

Marcus was cut off as Eric's hand shot up and wrapped around Marcus' neck, shoving him against the wall, just as Marcus had done to me. You would think Marcus would be smart enough to not challenge someone that had a foot in hight on him and at least 50-100 pounds on him.

"Shut your mouth," Eric growled. "You made this my business when you decided to put your hands on her," Marcus' face began to turn a bright shade of red as Eric's hand kept it's lock on his throat. "How dare you think that you have any right to even look at her," Marcus grabbed Eric's wrist, trying to relive some of the pressure. "You touch her, speak to her, or go anywhere near her ever again we're gonna have a problem, understood?" he voice low, his tone dripping with conviction. It had been a while since I had seen Eric like this; cruel, cold, and scary as hell.

Marcus did his best attempt at a nod, earning his release from Eric. I watched as Marcus dropped to floor once again. Eric crouched down next to him as he gasped for air, "Now, I suggest you keep this conversation to yourself, wouldn't want to tarnish your imagine, now would you?"

Eric didn't wait for a response as he stood and walked back over to Jennifer and I. I couldn't help but smile at his actions. Yeah, they were actions that could get him in some serious shit, but he did it for me. He placed his arm around my shoulders and we began to walk back to the conference room. I intertwined my fingers with his hand that hung loosely off my shoulder, wrapping my free arm around his waist.

"Thanks for telling me about this, by the way," Jennifer say sarcastically as she continued to smiled in our direction.

"Sorry," I blushed, looking at the ground.

"I saw it coming though," she pointed out. "Eric never talked about anybody as much as he talked about you."

"More like complained," he responded, earning a jab in the side form me.

"How did you know I was in trouble?" I asked. If they hadn't have come to rescue my sorry ass I'd probably be dead right now.

"As soon as you left Marcus followed you out. I asked Jenn to come with me so it didn't look as bad as it could have," he informed me.

"No, I think he asked me to come with him so that he would have a witness," Jenn joked.

"That too," he chuckled.

Once we reached the conference room, Eric dropped his arm and so did I. "Don't worry," Jenn spoke. "I won't say anything."

"Thanks," I replied, relived. If any of this got out, we'd be fucked.

With that, we all made our way back into the meeting. It wasn't long before Marcus joined. He refused to look in our direction, sitting back next to Andrew with his tail between his legs.

The meeting didn't take much longer after Jeanine started it back up again. Once again, they induced me as a new Dauntless leader while Max and Leo were giving an update on our faction. When it was over, Max insisted that we go ahead back while he had some words with Jeanine. As curious as I was to find out what they were going to chat about, I wanted nothing more than to get home.

"So does anyone want to tell me what happened to Alex's neck?" Leo asked once we were all in the car. Eric, Jenn, and I all looked between the three of us. The bruise that was eventually going to form duo to my confrontation with Marcus must have already started to make an appearance.

"You don't have to worry, it's all taken care off," I smiled at him.

He gave me a skeptical look, shaking his head, a hint of a smirk on his face. "Good."

It was dark outside by the time we got back. Jason, Leo, and Jennifer all decided to head to the dining hall for dinner, leaving me with Eric.

"You go and head upstairs, I'll meet you up there in a few," I said. He raised an eyebrow in question. "I need to talk to Four." I saw him roll his eyes at the mention of my brother. "Eric, please, not right now."

He released the tension in his body and sighed. "Yeah, okay." He pulled me closer, kissing my forehead before turning and heading up to his apartment. "I'll leave the door unlocked," he said over his shoulder before disappearing around a corner.

After about 15 minutes of searching for Tobias, I came up empty handed. I finally made my way to his apartment, hoping he would be there. Thankfully after my knock he took no time to answer the door.

"Hey," he smiled. That smiled turned into a frown as his eyes grazed over my neck. My eyes started to water. I tried to fight them, but I just couldn't. "Did Eric do that? I swear to god-," I could see him fill with rage.

I shook my head as the first tear spilled. "It was Marcus," I choked.

He looked confused, but immediately pulled me into him and wrapped his arms around me. He closed the door behind me and just held me as I sobbed. I thought I was past this. I thought I was stronger than this.

"What were you doing anywhere near him?" he asked as he comforted me.

"It was at the faction meeting," I mumbled as I gripped onto him tighter. "And I just stood there as he did it. I didn't fight back, I didn't do anything. I froze. He was gonna kill me, Tobias."

He walked me over to the couch, sitting me down. He knelt down in front of me, taking my hands in his. "It's okay, Alex."

"No, it's not. After all of this, after confronting my fears and being taught how to defend myself and to fight, I still ending up a coward that couldn't face her father," I pulled my hands from his and wiped my wet checks.

"You went there and you faced him, you faced one of your worst fears, you are not a coward," he countered. "So, you might not have been 100% ready for that, so what? That wasn't your fault."

I didn't respond to him, I just sat there and let his word process. "Why didn't you tell me you had to go and see him?"

"I didn't want you to get upset," I confessed.

"Yeah, I would have been upset, but not at you, at the situation that you'd be put in," he got up and sat next to me on the couch.

"I didn't want to take that chance," I leaned into him as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

"No matter how upset I get, I'm still you big brother and I will ALWAYS be here for you, not matter how pissed at you or the world I am, okay?"

"Okay."

**XXX**

Half an hour later, I found myself in front of Eric's door. I twisted the doorknob, letting myself in. He was on the couch looking through some files. He looked up when I stepped into the room. Without a word, I walked over to the couch and sat down next to him. He closed the files and placed them on the coffee table.

"You wanna talk about it?" he asked.

"Not really," I leaned on him, using his shoulder and chest as pillow. He wrapped his arm around me, bringing me closer.

"Well when you're ready, I'm here," he reassured.

"I know," I looked up at him, giving him a small smile.

* * *

**I hope you guys liked it! I'd love to hear what you guys think so feel free to leave a review or shoot me a PM! :)**


	22. Chapter 22

**Thank you guys for all the alerts and favorites! And thank you to _Rose. .girl, cattchmeifyoucan, DeadpoolLovesTacos, hugabunny12, Fangirl366, Alexandra, Molly Evens, HeatOfGold, and Alexandra F _for the reviews. I'm so sorry of taking so long to update. I was out of town for a while and writing was the furthest thing from my mind.**

**Hope you guys like it!**

* * *

"Hey," I looked up from my food as Jake sat in front of me. I smiled at him, glad to see a friendly face so early. Eric wasn't down in the dinning hall, but I would see him shortly for a training session.

"Hey, Jake," I looked over his shoulder, expecting the others to join, but was met with their absence. "Where's the gang?"

"Aidan had an early shift in the control room, Liv is dealing with a baby in the infirmary, and Kristen is still at the fence," he informed me. I frowned at this information I felt as if I hadn't spent any time with my friends. It was training all day with either Jenn, Eric, Leo or the others and by the time I was done I was exhausted. "What's that frown for?"

"I don't know, I just miss you guys, ya know?" I picked at my food as I shrugged my shoulders.

"Well, I'm having everyone over at my place tonight and you know you're welcome to come," Jake offered.

I considered his offer. I was supposed to go over Eric's tonight after training with Jenn today, but I'm sure he would understand. "Yeah, I would love to come," I beamed. "Will there be liquor involve?"

"Duhh," he gave me a stupid face and rolled his eyes.

I couldn't help but laugh. I flicked a piece of egg at him, but he gracefully swatted it away, laughing with me.

"I feel like I never see you anymore," Jake moped. "You're always with that big scary boyfriend of yours," he complained.

"Not always. That's just during that day when I'm training. Honestly, I spend most of my free time with Four." Ever since my run in with Marcus two weeks ago, I found myself seeking my brothers company more and more.

"I don't understand how you could stand him to be honest," Jake continued, ignoring my comment about Tobias. "Especially after all the shit he put you through during initiation. He's just so-,"

"Jake," I interrupted. I locked my blue eyes with his.

"I'm just saying," he shrugged. "I'm worried about you. I care too much about you to not be."

I broke his eye contact and looked back down at my breakfast. "Well, you don't need to be worried, I'm okay. I can take care of myself."

"Oh, trust me, I know," he smirked.

There was a few seconds of silence before I spoke. "How's the tattooing going?"

"Great, actually," I saw his whole face light up at the mention of it. "You should really stop by and let me tat you up," he chuckled. "I could suggest a few that would look great on an ass cheek."

I almost choked on the orange juice I was drinking as I begin to laugh. "I'll get a tattoo on my ass when I run out of space everywhere else."

"Your loss," the corners of his smile faltered as he looked over by shoulder. I followed his gaze to find Eric as he entered the dinning hall. "I wouldn't suggest inviting him, by the way."

I looked at him, slightly ofeneded. "No, no, no," he said when he saw the look on my face. "Four is most likely going to be there and we all know how that'll end up."

"Oh," my shoulder relaxed from their tense position. "Thanks for the heads up."

"Always," he smiled before getting up and making his way out of the dinning area.

Eric was standing behind me a few minutes later just as I finished my breakfast. "You ready?"

"Yup," with that I got up, threw my trash away, and followed him to the training room.

"So," I huffed as we finished our mile run. "Jake invited me and a few others over to him place tonight for some drinks. I know we where going to hang out tonight…"

"Which one's Jake?" He asked, not fazed by the run. "That tattooed boy right?"

"Yeah with the dark hair and blue eyes," I described.

He took a few moments before he answered. "Who's gonna be there? It's not just gonna be you and him, right?"

"Four, Aidan, Olivia, and I don't know who else?" I raised my eyebrow as I adressed his second question. "He's my best friend, it doesn't matter if we'd be alone."

I don't know why, by this conversation put a sour look on his face. "I'd rather you didn't go."

"Well, too bad," I shrugged. "I just wanted to informed you about it, I wasn't looking for permission."

"God, you're so fucking… aggravating sometimes," he sighed, frustrating.

"Aw, thanks, babe," I rolled my eyes as I walked out of the training room to go meet Jenn.

**XXX**

I knocked on Jakes door that night, happy to spend the night getting drunk with my friends. Jake answered the door with a smile. "Our favorite leader-in-training is here guys," he announced as I entered the apartment.

I was met with so many familiar faces; Aidan, Olivia, Tobias, Lizzy, Dean, Zeke, and Shauna. I was greeted with a hug and a smile from everyone. "Time to start the games," Shauna declared.

"Games?" I looked at Zeke who wiggled his eyebrows at me.

"Everyone grab some alcohol and get in a circle!" she instructed. Everyone did as she said, the boys moved Jake's couch and table aside so we could sit in the middle of the living room. I had Tobias on my left and Lizzy on my right.

Shauna placed a bottle in the middle before sitting crosslegged next to Zeke and Dean. "Time to play a little Candor or Dauntless. We're gonna spin the bottle and the person who spun it has to ask the person that it landed on Candor or Dauntless, got it?" We all nodded.

Shauna reached to the center and spun the bottle first. The games first victim was Aidan. "Candor or Dauntless?"

And it all when down hill from there. Several beers, bad dares, and stupid questions later we were still at it.

Dean spun the bottle and we all watched as it landed on Zeke. "Candor or Dauntless?"

"I'm gonna go with Candor on this one," Zeke chuckled.

Dean quickly whipped up a question. "Out of all the guys in here, who would you bang?"

"Pft, that's an easy one. Four, hands down," we all bust into a fit of laughter as Zeke made a kissy face at him. Tobias just rolled his eyes with a smile on his face.

Zeke took the bottle and spun it. I was the victim this time. "Candor or Dauntless, Alex?"

"Candor, I don't trust you," I chuckled as I felt the buzz from the alcohol.

"Hmmm, who was the last person you kissed?" My eyes went wide at the question.

"Pass," I tried to wiggle my way out of it.

"Nope, you can't do that," Zeke smiled mischievously.

"Oh, come on guys, we all know it was a certain leader that's taken a special interest in her," Jake smirked as he downed the last of his beer.

"Jake!" I glared at him

"It was Eric, wasn't it?!" Lizzy exclaimed.

I buried my head in my hands, trying to avoid the looks on everyone's faces. "I knew it!" I heard Olivia shout.

"Fine, fine, fine, yes, it was Eric, but it was a long time ago," I lied. It was just recently actually.

"Bullshit!" Jake laughed. I looked over at Tobias, he glared at me, but I was pretty sure he was so drunk that he wouldn't remember this in the morning.

"Moving on!" I spun the bottle and the game continued.

A few spins later, the bottle landed on Jake and Aidan had the honor of asking the golden question. "Candor or Dauntless?"

"Dauntless," he smiled.

"I dare you to get up and kiss some in this room," Aidan challenged as he took another swig from his beer. Jake, without hesitation, got up and headed my way. My heartbeat quickened. Oh shit.

He pulled my face to his and smashed his lips against mine. I was too shocked to do anything. I felt Tobias move from next to me and push Jake away from me. "Sit your ass down," he growled.

Jake stumbled back to his seat, a shit eating grin on his face. I blinked a few times, and looked over at Lizzy. She just simply shrugged as Jake spun the bottle.

The next thing I remembered was waking up to a knock at the door. Where was I? I opened my eyes to see my friends passed out on the floor. Zeke was curled on the table, Aidan's head was laying on Olivia's stomach and Shauna's head was on his legs. Dean was curled up in a ball next to her. Oh yeah, I was still at Jake's. I looked around, but didn't see Tobias. He must have felt already. I felt and arm draped over me and I shrugged it off of me. I was on the couch with Jake.

"What do you want, Eric?" I heard Lizzy moan as she answered the door.

"Where's Alex? She late for training," I could hear the annoyance in his voice. I sat up as Eric brushed past Lizzy.

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes as my head began to pound. I looked up at Eric as he spotted me and Jake on the couch. His face turned into a scowl. _My _Eric was nowhere to found in that expression, just the cruel and cold Eric. "Lets go," he growled. I groaned at his words. He was talking too loud. "_Now."_

"Chill out, man," Jake said sleepily as he sat up next to me.

"Was I talking to you? I don't think so," Eric snarled. "Alex."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm coming, grumpy pants," I pushed myself off the couch and headed to the open door. Lizzy shot me a sympathetic look as I walked past her.

Once we were in the stairway and out of earshot of everyone I turned to him, annoyed. "What the fuck was that about?"

"I should be asking you the same damn question," he shot back.

"What are you talking about?" I countered.

"You were curled up on the couch with that little punk, were you not expecting a reaction out of me?" His voice was harsh and made my head throb harder.

"Nothing happened. He's my best friend. Did anything I said yesterday get through that thick skull of your's?" What was his problem?

"Best friend my ass. That's certainly not what it looked like," he growled.

I rolled my eyes as I rubbed my temples. "I don't have time for your childish bullshit," I turned and began to head down the stair.

"Don't walk away from me, Alex," he shouted as I continued my descent.

"Come talk to me when you've chilled the fuck out," I shouted back as I exited the stairway. I hated arguing with him, but I needed to make sure that he knew he couldn't just jump to conclusions like that and that he needed to trust me.

* * *

**I hope you guys liked it! I'd love to hear what you guys think so feel free to leave a review or shoot me a PM! :)**


	23. Chapter 23

**Thank you guys for all the alerts and favorites! And thank you_ Rose. .girl, DeadpoolLovesTacos, StardustSpike,MollyEvens, cattchmeifyoucan, Icy eyed Angel, Castiel Angel Heart, _and_ Alexandra_ for the reviews!**

**This chapter is about the size of two, but there was no good way to stop it in the ****middle. Plus, after me taking so long to update recently you guys deserve a nice long chapter lol.**

* * *

Unfortunately, I had to head down to the training room after stopping at my apartment for a quick shower. I was in my typical black tank top and pants, hair up in a messy ponytail. I took my time getting to the training room, knowing there was a good chance he would be there. If I could, I would avoid him for as long as possible, but seeing that it was my job, that wasn't going to happen.

To my surprise, Eric was nowhere in sight when I stepped through the doors. I felt a small stab of disappointment, but that feeling was outweighed by my feeling of relief. I started with some stretching and jumped right into training, trying to focus on the exercises at hand instead of what happened last night and this morning. I'm sure the thing was just a drunk action on Jake's part. We were all pretty wasted so there was no point in bringing it up to Eric and making shit worse than it already was.

I was nearly ready to head out after about an hour when I heard the doors open. My heart nearly stopped. I knew exactly who it without even affording him a glance in his direction. "In the ring."

"Have you calmed down yet?" I asked, turning towards him, making my way to the ring.

He didn't grace me with an answer, just an expression. My chest tightened at the look on his face. This was Eric. My instructor that knocked me unconscious and stabbed me with an airborne knife. This was not going to end well. It never ended well when he was in a mood like this.

"I'll take that a no," I signed as I squared up to his broad frame. "So this is how we're gonna settle our disagreements, then?"

"If we can't solve them with words, then yes," his tone was flat and reflected his facial expression.

"We'd be able to solve them if you didn't shut out everything I said and made assumptions," it was true. He didn't even give me a chance explain this morning.

"Assumptions? I know what I saw," I could hear him start to get agitated.

"You saw me passed out on a couch after drinking way to many beers," I informed him. "Four was there last night, you really think he would let anything happen?"

"He wasn't there this morning," he countered.

"Are you calling me a lair?" I asked, offended.

"No, I'm just saying that he wasn't there when I was," It was nice to see that we were getting somewhere now, even if he still seemed pissed. I mean damn, I'd probably be pissed too if it was reversed, but I would at least give him a chance to explain himself, or I hoped I would.

"He probably had an early shift in the control room," I reasoned. I didn't know exactly why Tobias wasn't there, but it was a pretty good guess as to where he went.

"Okay, we'll go with that," he grumbled.

Tired of arguing, I took a swing at him, which he easily dodged. "How do you expect me to tell you shit if you're going to overreact to it?"

He dodged another punch, grabbing my fist and twisting it behind my back. He pressed himself up against me. "Well is there anything you'd like me to not 'overreact' too?" he said, his breath on my neck.

I didn't answer. I twisted out of his hold and kicked the back of his knee, making this leg buckle. He landed on one knee, looking up at me.

"Is there something else you want to share?" He questioned, knowing I was hiding something.

"I just want to say it was a stupid game, we were drunk," I tried to fluff it and not make it seem as bad as he would probably take it.

He swept his arms at my legs, causing me to land hard on my back. "What happened?" he growled.

Before he got the chance to capitalize on my fall I quickly got to my feet. "Jake, he kissed me, okay? But I swear it didn't mean jack shit. Zeke dared him too."

"I'm gonna kill that little punk," he huffed. I wasn't really sure if he was talking about Zeke or Jake but either way being a target of Eric's was a dangerous thing.

"I swear to god, Eric, if you touch him," I snapped. I swung again, but this time he deflected it, jabbing me in the side. I came back and struck him with an elbow to the jaw.

"Why are you defending him if it meant nothing?" he barked.

"Because he's my best friend!" He swiftly placed his heel behind my leg and shoved me backwards.

"I don't care who or what his is, he puts his hands on you again and we're gonna have a problem."

Once again, I landed hard on my back. Eric's hands were around my throat in no time.

"I could kill you right now," he said, lightly squeezing my neck.

"Bullshit," I spat.

"Oh yeah? This was the same shit Marcus was doing and you didn't do a damn thing to stop him," he countered. When did this become about him?

"That was different," I looked away from him, still shameful of my lack of action.

"It shouldn't be, you know I wouldn't do it, but he sure as hell just might. Instead of getting wasted and passing out with some guy on a couch, you should make sure your ass is in here bright and early every morning so maybe we can make sure shit like that doesn't happen again."

"It won't happen again," I snarled.

"You froze once," he locked eyes with me. "You'll do it again. Dauntless don't freeze."

I felt my blood begin to boil. I was tired of hearing all the shit he was throwing my way. Throwing the Marcus thing in my face was a low blow. With everything I had, I brought my fist to his face, knocking him off of me.

"Fuck you," I spat as I rolled to my knees and then onto my feet. Not looking back, I made my way out of the training room, my face hot with anger and my eyes watering from frustration.

I wiped my eyes as I headed to the infirmary. His blows weren't infirmary worth, but I didn't know where else to go. I looked around for a familiar face. I instantly found Lizzy pulling off a pair of latex gloves and tossing them in the trash. She looked up, seeing me as I walked in her direction.

She beckoned me forward, telling me to follow her to one of the back rooms. I did just that, taking a seat on the familiar metal table. Lizzy closed the door before turning to face me. "What happened?"

"Hurricane Eric, that's what fucking happened," I wiped my eyes once again.

"Care to elaborate?" And with that I did. I told her about our argument this morning and then our most recent one just a few minutes. She handed me an icepack for my side as I finished.

"Can you blame him for being upset?" Lizzy crossed her arms as she leaned against the counter.

"I guess not, but that doesn't give him the right to throw the Marcus thing in my face," I said as I placed the pack of ice on my side where Eric jabbed me.

"I think he was just trying to make a point," I would accuse her of defending him, but she probably knew him a little better than I did seeing that she grew up with him.

"Still," I grumbled.

Lizzy smirked and shook her head. "Just think of it this way, if you guys don't argue then that means you don't care. It's better to care too much than not enough. You shouldn't be upset that he got pissed and jealous about Jake, you should be upset if he _didn't _get pissed and jealous about Jake."

She had a point. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense."

"Just give him some space," she suggested. "He'll come around eventually."

"If you say so."

XXX

After a good vent session with Lizzy, I headed to the tattoo parlor, in the mood for some new ink. I assumed Jake would be there, but I wasn't looking for him, it was Tori I wanted. I came up behind her as she sketched a tattoo on a sheet of paper.

"Up for giving me a new tat?" I smiled.

"Always," she turned and smiled back. She lead me to an empty chair and sat me down.

"You wouldn't happen to know where Jake is, would you?" I asked, looking around the shop for him.

"Called in sick today," she informed me. I chuckled. Sick my ass, more like hungover.

"Oh okay."

"Know what you want?" She sat down next to me on a stool.

I thought for a second, but knew exactly what I wanted. "As a matter of fact, I do."

It only took an hour and a half or so for this piece. It was a quote that was located on my ribs, opposite of my tribal tattoo that crawled up my other side and hid my scar. It read: _'Learn from the past. Live for the present. Dream for the future.' _each sentence having its own line on my side.

The past was yesterday. Abnegation and Marcus are my past, and that's where they belong. I've learned from my past, but that's all it's good for. Today is my present. Dauntless, my brother, my friends, they're what I live for now. My future is tomorrow. I don't know where it'll lead me or what it'll look like, but I can work hard and make it what I want.

XXX

The rest of the day was a little of a blur. I spent my afternoon with Leo, trying to soak up as much knowledge from him as possible. After our afternoon lessons, it was time for dinner. I wasn't really hungry and I wasn't in a sociable mood so I grabbed a piece of chocolate cake and went to make my exit. I felt someone's eyes on me and wasn't surprise when I turned to find Eric watching my every move. I frowned. Not because I was still upset at him, but because I felt this gap between us that I could only met him halfway to close. I saw his expression soften before he turned back to his conversation with Jenn and Jason.

I made my way up to my apartment, sitting in piece and quiet as I ate my cake. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the silence. I don't think I've ever had a moment of silence since I joined Dauntless.

Once I finished my cake, I placed the dish in the sink and reached for a glass to get some water. As my finger wrapped around the glass, there was a knock at the door. I placed the glass down on the counter and padded over to the door. I opened the door, only to me met with Eric's pricing blue eyes.

I sighed, my moment of silence had come to an end. I left the door opened as I walked away from him and back to the kitchen. I heard him close the door as he walked into my apartment. I grabbed my glass and filled it water from the faucet. I heard his boot follow me into the kitchen.

"I'm sorry about the Jake thing," I finally spoke as took a sip of water.

"I'm sorry about the Marcus thing, it was out of line," he admitted.

"I understand why you were upset, but you didn't need to explode like that. If I tell you it meant nothing, it did. I need you to trust me," I placed my glass on the counter, crossing my arms. I was glad to see that we were finally being civil about this.

"I do trust you, it's just that..." he paused, stepping closer to me. "Sometimes you just make me so upset that I feel like I'm gonna lose my mind."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" I chuckled.

"I don't know yet," he smirked. "I swear, sometimes I just want to get in the ring with you and duke it out."

"Been there, done that," I shook my head as I smiled.

"And then," he closed the space between us, placing a hand on either side of me, trapping me between him and the counter. "sometimes I just want to have my way with you."

"Oh really?" I smirked. "Which one of those applies at the moment?"

"You tell me," his lips brushed against mine, soft, hesitant. I pulled him closer by the collar of his shirt. It was like a switch flipped. The next thing I knew the gentle kiss turned into something so full of desperation and passion- hard and fast. I found myself following him move for move. My hands trailed up his neck to his hair. As he bit my lip ring I couldn't help pull tighter at his hair, earning a moan from him. He pressed against me as he pushed me against the counter.

Suddenly his shirt was in the way. In no time it was on the floor, whether by his doing or mine, I didn't know, but I wasn't complaining as I trailing my hands down his torso. I felt his hands find my hips and then I was on the countertop, his body between my separated legs. I heard glass shatter as the glass was knocked off the counter. I involuntary giggled into the kiss.

His mouth left mine, trailing hot kisses down my neck down to where my shoulder began. I made a noise that I was sure that I'd be mortified by in the morning, but right now that didn't matter. All that mattered was that he was pressed up against me and traveling down lower to the neckline of my shirt.

His lips moved back up to mine as I played with the hairs on the back of his neck. But then he stopped.

I opened my eyes and looked up at him, confused as to why he stopped.

"Do you want this?" he asked me. His eyes seemed to have turned to a darker shade of blue as they bore into mine.

"Why wouldn't I?" It was a legitimate question.

"Because you can do so much better than me."

I moved to the crook of his neck. "And vice versa," I said before I began leave wandering kisses across his skin.

I could feel his breath hitch. "I'm serious, Alex," he got out. My hands left his hair and trailed down his back.

"And so am I," I took one of his hands in mine and intertwined our fingers, kissing his hand.

"Are you sure?"

"Are you? You say I can do so much better, but you're all I need and all I want, Eric. You and only you." I reassured him.

He smiled. "I think I can live with that."

"Then why'd you stop?"

And just like that his lips crashed into mine, his hands moving everywhere and nowhere at once. My brain could barely keep up with him. His hands roamed up from my hips and to the hem of my shirt. Seconds later it was on the floor. He broke the kiss only to let his eyes travel up my torso to explore my tattoos. His eyes caught in the lower part of my abdomen. I looked down to see the scar that had been caused by his knife skills.

"That was from me, wasn't it?" his fingers brushed along the scar.

"You and and one of your dick moves, yeah," I commented.

He chuckled and leaned down, kissing the scar and continuing to kiss up my torso. He wrapped my legs around his waist. I took that as a cue to wrap my arms around his neck as he picked me up from the counter and carried me towards the bedroom.

XXX

I smiled the next morning as I felt someone's eyes on me. "Take a picture, it'll last longer," I said, using one of his lines against him.

I felt the bed bounce silently as he chuckled. "I just might."

I opened my eyes to be met my Eric's soft blue eyes. "We should argue more often," I yawned as I stretched, feeling sore.

"Agreed," he kissed me, making it deeper than necessary. He shifted so he was over top of me.

"What happened to the arguing part?" I chuckled as I pushed him off of me.

"Right," he smirked as he played with my hair. A knocked echoed through the apartment and I sent a confused look Eric's way. "I'll get it."

"No," I grabbed his arm as he sat up. "We don't know who it is."

"Its probably Jenn," he said looking at the clock that read 11. I would be meeting her around this time for my training. No one else would make sense.

"Ugh, fine. But only because I don't feel like getting up," I sighed in defeat.

He pulled on his black jeans, but went shirtless due to the fact that it was somewhere in the kitchen. As he made his way out of the bedroom, my curiosity got the better of me and I grabbed a pair of gym shorts off the floor and a hoodie off the dresser. I made it out just in time to watch as Eric twisted the door knob to open the door.

"What the fuck are you doing here?"

Oh shit.

* * *

**I hope you guys liked it! I'd love to hear what you guys think so feel free to leave a review or shoot me a PM! :)**


	24. Chapter 24

**Thank you guys for all the favorites alerts! And thank you _Molly Evens, TrekkieGirl10, Nephica, .Ashford, cattchmeifyoucan, LoveFerrin, Alexandra, Nambia, queenoftrouble, HeartOfGold, fangirl366, _and _divertstar 101 _for all the reviews.**

**I just want to say that I'm SO sorry for not updating in so long. I was out of town for awhile again. Once I got back things at my job started to pick up. Life as been so busy and crazy and I had no idea how to start this chapter so I'm sorry if it's not the best. I just wanted to give you guys something. I hope you guys like it. **

* * *

My heart nearly stopped at the sound of his voice. He was definitely not Jenn.

"None of your goddamn business," Eric snarled at Tobias.

"Shut up, Eric," I shoved him out of the doorway, glaring at him.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I tried to hide the panic that threatened to consume me. The look one his face was indescribable. The pain in his eyes broke my heart, but he anger that seeped from pores scared the living shit out of me.

"Tobias, I swear, I can explain..." Who was I kidding? I had no idea how to explain this.

"What is there to explain?" He said a little too calm. "You lied to me."

"I just, he, I...I don't know what to say. I'm sorry," It felt as if a hand was slowly wrapping around my throat.

"Sorry? That's not good enough. Not this time," he turned and began to make his way down the hall. That's it? He was just going to let it end there?

My panic began to be replaced by frustration and annoyance. He didn't have a say in how I was allowed to live my life. I loved him, but as my brother he needed to learn how to except me for me and not for this Abnegation girl that he left behind.

I couldn't let him go. I chased after him, grabbing his arm to stop him. He ripped it from my grasp as he turned to face me. "I don't understand why you're making choose?"

"You know why," he growled.

"Because of Amar?" He flinched at the named. "You can't just go and accuse Eric of killing him and expect me to label him as a killer just based off you're word. It doesn't work like that."

"You don't believe me?" He sounded offended, but I didn't care.

"I asked him about it and he said he had nothing to do with it. He was genuinely offended by the accusation," I lied. I didn't know how else to smooth this over.

"People lie," he spat. Well, no shit.

"He wasn't lying. I believe him, and if you have a problem with that, too bad," So, I didn't ask him, that didn't matter. I know for a fact that Eric isn't a killer.

"What the hell has gotten into you, hm? Before you came to Dauntless you would have never even thought about being with someone like Eric. You would have labeled him for what he is, an asshole on a power trip. Why don't you see that?"

"Because I'm not that little girl that you left behind in Abnegation. I've grown up and I can decided who I want to be with and who I don't. I love you for who you are and I let you live your own life. Why can't you do the same for me?"

He sighed, running his hand over his face. "I'm not going to talk about this anymore, you know where I stand."

"Tobias-," but he cut me off.

"The only reason I came up here is because I wanted to talk you about this. I found it in my apartment," he pulled a piece of folded paper out of his back pocket and tossed it in my direction. I caught it, giving him a confused look. "But I'm not really in the mood to even be near you right now."

"Stop being so childish," I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever," was the last thing that he said to me as he walked away. I didn't bother looking at the paper as I shoved it in my pocket. I watched as he disappeared around he corner. As upset as I was at him, I hated being on bad terms with him.

After a minute or so, I turned back and headed back to my apartment. Eric was on the couch when I opened the door. When he saw me he immediately stood and made his way over to me. He frowned, I assumed because he noticed the sour look on my face.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have answered the door," he said.

"No, he was going to find out eventually. We weren't going to be able to hide this forever," I admitted.

"I know I have my reasons for not being a big fan of his and vise versa, but what has his panties in such as twist that it's got him pissed at you too?" He pulled me towards the couch. I sat on his lap and rest my head on his chest.

"He thinks you killed Amar," I said bluntly. I wasn't quite sure how else to put it.

"What?" I was right about one thing, he did seem offended. "Amar was our instructor. I had nothing against Amar. Sure, I thought he played favorites and he wasn't my favorite person, but shit, I wouldn't have killed him." He sat up, causing me to sit up as well. I looked at him confused. "You don't think I killed him, do you?"

"Of course not! That's why he's so pissed."

"Well, he needs to grow the fuck up," he leaned back and wrapped his arms around me.

"Exactly," I agreed. "He just thinks you're an asshole on a power trip." "I really don't give a shit what he thinks about me," he shrugged.

"Trust me, I know." I sat up and untangled myself from him. I stood and made my way towards my room.

XXX

Once lunch rolled around, me and Eric headed to the dinning hall. I ducked my head as I tried to sneak past Jenn.

"Hey!" Damn. "Thanks for standing me up. Where were you?" She joined me in line, Eric falling in place behind her.

"Let's just say it was for a good reason."

"Sleeping in is not a good reason," she countered.

"I wasn't sleeping in," I lied. "Me and Four had a family issue that needed to get solved."

"Did it get solved?"

"No," As a matter of fact, it got 10 times worse.

"He's just being a dick," Eric chirped in.

"Four is many things," Jenn grabbed a chocolate muffin as she spoke. "But he is not a dick. He's probably one of the nicest guys I know."

"You've never pissed him off have you?" I chucked, grabbing a hamburger.

"You can piss him off?" She looked amazed by the taught of Tobias mad. I shook my head, smiling as I walked over to our table. When we were all seated, the small talk continued on between Eric, Jenn, and Jason who had already been sitting at the table. I zoned out about 5 minutes into it and found myself scanning the dinning hall for Tobias.

He was sitting at the far end of the room with Zeke and Shauna. He must have felt my eyes on him because he looked up and locked eyes with me. He then looked over at the seat next to me, at Eric. When he looked back at me, an unreadable expression was set on his face and his eyes were harsh. He looked away from me and back at Zeke.

I let out a breath that I hadn't realized I'd been holding in. Eric must have noticed this and placed his hand on my knee. He leaned closer to me and whispered, "Fuck him. You're the only thing he has left. He's not going anywhere. He's just being a baby and throwing a tantrum. He'll get over it."

I turned and gave him sad smile. "What if he doesn't?"

"Then, like I said, fuck him." I nodded, but I didn't want to be here right now.

"Hey, Jason?"

"Yeah?" He looked up from his burger.

"Mind if I take the day off?" I was supposed to be shadowing him today.

"Yeah, go ahead." He smiled. "Thanks," and with that I stood and gathered my trash.

"Alex?" Eric questioned.

"I'm fine." I said as I walked away. I dumped the remainder of my lunch and headed back to my apartment.

After a long hot shower, I wondered around my apartment, trying to clear my head. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed the piece of paper that Tobias gave me earlier on my dresser. I unfold it and read the three lines that were written on it;

_On the day you hated most_

_ At the time when she died _

_In the place where you first jumped on_

What hell was this supposed to mean? At first the words didn't make sense, but obviously they were important enough for Tobias to feel the need to show them to me. I read them over and over again, trying to make out what they were saying.

_On the day you hated most._ There were a lot of days that I hated. Today was on that list of hated days, but that was besides the point. Was it talking about a holiday? A birthday? A specific day of the year? No day in particularly was sticking out. It must be referring to a day of the week. If that was the case, that was an easy one; Wednesdays. Wednesdays were council meeting days. Marcus would be out late and come home in a terrible mood.

_ At the time when she died._ There could only be one she, our mother. She died in the middle of the night. When me and Tobias woke up her body was already gone, but it was said that she died around two in the morning.

_ In the place where you first jumped on._ That had to be when we first jumped onto the train when we picked Dauntless as our new faction.

Wednesday, at two a.m., on the train platform near the Hub. That's tonight. There was only one person in the world would know all of that information besides me and Tobias: Marcus.

XXX

That night, I wiggled out of Eric grasp and got out of bed. I quickly and quietly got dressed. I stuck out of his apartment and locked the door behind me. There's no foot traffic around the Pit at this time so I mad my way through Dauntless unnoticed.

Once I reach the outside, I broke into a slow run, finding a rhythm that went hand in hand with my breathing. It's not cold out, but a chill swept through my body as I thought about who I was going to be face to face with in just a few short minutes. After everything, why did he want to see Tobias? Didn't he realize that neither one of use want anything to do with him.

It wasn't long before the Hub came into view. I looked at my watch, it's a few minutes to two. I might be a few minutes late, but it's Marcus and I could careless if I'm punctual.

My running came to a stop when I finally reached the stairs. I was hit with a wall of memories as I looked up the rungs. I couldn't help but smile. I was so scared and unsure if I had made the right choice or not. I remember Jake and Aidan running along side of me. I felt a pang of guilt in my chest realizing that I had been spending so much time with Eric that I hardly ever saw my friends anymore.

I shook the nerves and memories off as I began to climb. My footsteps echoed throughout the dark that surrounded me, but when I reached the top, it wasn't Marcus who I saw.

Tobias stood alone on the platform. He looked at me, his anger and frustration towards me gone for a moment as it was replaced by confusion.

"You came?" Not that he sounded surprised, but almost as if he was expecting me not to come.

"I wasn't going to let you face him alone, not matter how pissed you are at me. You're my brother Tobias, nothing is ever gonna change that."

He looked down at his sneakers and I sighed. We both looked off into the distance as the sound of a train rumbled and shook the tracks.

"I didn't know the trains ran this late," If I would have known that I wouldn't have run all the way here.

"They don't, but Marcus would never take a train, he would never associate himself so closely with the Dauntless," he had a point, but then what explanation was there for the train?

As the train neared, I watched a person leaped from the train and onto the platform. I squinted, trying to make out who it was. It wasn't Marcus, but a woman.

The woman strode towards us, when she was a few feet away I could finally see her. Long curly hair. Black Dauntless pants, gray Abnegation shirt, brown Amity boots. Her face was so foreign, yet so familiar that I could never forget it.

"Mom?"

* * *

**I was on the fence on whether to have it be Jake or Four, but I had a better idea of how to write the ****Four version. I know all of you expected a bigger BANG, but I figured that they've kinda already been through this once, so I thought this time it would be better to have a more of a "i'm disappointed in you" kinda version of it.**

**I hope you guys liked it! I'd love to hear what you guys think so feel free to leave a review or shoot me a PM! :)**


	25. Chapter 25

**Thank you guys for the favorite and alerts. And thank you**_** Wolf9lucky**_** and**_** cattchmeifyoucan **_**for reviews!**

**Its not one of my favorite chapters, but I hope you guys like it. There's a lot of dialogue in this chapter, just a heads up.**

* * *

"Alexandra," she breathed, wide-eyed. "Tobias."

She seemed almost stunned to see us. It almost made me mad. She had the fortune of knowing we were alive. She knew our hearts were still beating and that we were still breathing. I thought her heart had stopped beating years ago. In theory it probably did, you'd think a mother would have to die before she left them with a monster like Marcus Eaton.

I remembered waking up to a house full of grave-faced Abnegation and my father explaining to Tobias and I that she had died due to a complication with a pregnancy. I knew it was bullshit, but it was the only kind of closure that we had so we believed it. We were probably only nine? Ten years old?

"You're supposed to be dead," Tobias said, flatly.

"I know," she looked away from us and wiped something from her eyes. Tears? It was too dark for me to be sure. "I'm not."

"No shit," I grumbled, almost frustrated. "Were you even pregnant?"

"Pregnant? Is that what they told you, something about dying in child birth?" She shook her head. "No, I wasn't. I had been planing my exit for months, I needed to disappear. I thought he might tell you when you were old enough."

I rolled my eyes as I shook my head. I heard Tobias let out an award sort of laugh, like a bark. "You thought that _Marcus Eaton _would admit that his wife left him. To us?" I counter.

"You're his children," Evelyn said, frowning. "He loves you."

Then Tobias did something that took me off guard. He laughed. Like genuinely laughed. It was strange, almost sounding mechanical. To be honest, it scared me a little.

"You have a right to be angry that you were lied to," she said. "I would be angry, too. But I had to leave. I know you understand why…"

She reached out for him, but he grabbed her wrist and pushed her away. "Don't touch me." He shifted closer to me.

"All right, all right." She put her palms up and backed away. "Bu you must understand, you must."

"What I _understand _is that you left us alone in a house with that sadistic maniac," he barked.

Her shoulders slumped, as if she was slowly crumbling on the inside. Even her face went slack, as it dawned on her what he was saying Again, he stepped closer to me so he was right next to me. His face darkened as he crossed his arms, giving him a harder, tougher appearance.

"I-" she started.

"Stop wasting our time," I spat. "What do you want from us? It's been seven years since you died and you never tried to do this dramatic reveal before, so what's different now?"

At first she didn't answer. Then she pulled herself together, visibly, and said, "We, the factionless, like to keep an eye on things. Things like the Choosing Ceremony. This time, our eye told me that just like you, Tobias, Alexandra choose Dauntless. I've become… kind of a leader to the factionless, so I couldn't risk going myself."

"Well, well," I roll my eyes. "What important parents we have. I feel of so lucky." My voice dripping with sarcasm.

"This isn't like you. This isn't lie either of you. Are you even the least bit happy to see me?"

"Not really," I mumbled.

"Happy to see you again?" Tobias questioned. "We barely remember you, Evelyn. We've lived as long without you as we did with you."

Her face contorted. Tobias hit a nerve. Good.

"When you both chose Dauntless," she continued, "I knew it was time to reach out to you two. I've always planned to find you, after you chose and were on your own, so that I could invite you to join me."

Join her? What kind of joke was that?

"Join you," Tobias said. "Become factionless? Why would we want to do that?"

"Our city is changing. The factionless are coming together and so are Dauntless and Erudite." What was she talking about? "Sometime soon, everyone will have to choose a side, and I know which one you would rather be on. I think you can really make a difference with us."

"_You _know which side we'd rather be on?" I countered. "Really? If I had to ever choose a side it wouldn't be your's. I'm Dauntless, so is he," I motioned towards to Tobias. "We're not faction traders."

"You aren't one of those adrenaline junkies," she snapped, which took me a little of guard. "Just like you weren't a mindless Stiff. You can be so much more."

"You don't know who I am or what I'm capable of," I growled. "I'm in the process of become a Dauntless leader, I'm doing just fine where I am."

"Don't be naive," she narrowed her eyes. "They don't want a new leader, just a pawn they can manipulate."

"I won't be manipulated by them and I certain won't be manipulated by you. So, you can stick your offer and shove it where the sun doesn't shine." I turned and storm to the end of the platform.

"Alexandra!" She called, but I ignore her and made my way down the stairs as fast a humanly possible. I couldn't listen to her anymore. I couldn't stand the sight of her. She left us to suffer with _him _and then shows up seven years later telling us who we are, what we should do, and what we're capable of.

My pace was quick, but not quite a run as I headed back home. It wasn't long though before I heard footsteps behind me. I had cooled of a bit, but I wasn't really in the mood to deal with anymore bullshit.

"Alex," Tobias matched my pace as he fell in next to me. I stopped, looking at him.

"What she was saying about the Dauntless and Erudite, is it true?" I asked.

"Yeah, I think it is. While I was in the control room I saw Max with Jeanie in his office. They're up to something, but I don't know what." He informed me.

"Max hasn't said anything to me and neither have the others." I didn't like the thought of being left out of the circle.

"Maybe Max hasn't told them yet. It isn't long before Leo steps down and Max is in charge." I shifted slightly, uncomfortable with the thought of Max hiding something even from Leo.

I looked up at him, realizing that the same anger that laced his features were no longer there. "Are you still pissed at me?" I asked, needing to know the answer.

"I'm not pissed at you," he said after a few moments of silence. "I'm pissed at the situation. Eric is the last person I ever wanted to see you with. But, I'm not going to tell you how to live your life, I'd being doing the same thing that _she's _trying to do. I still don't like him and I never will. And just the thought you with him, it makes me cringe and it makes me so mad…"

"Well, like I said, you don't have to like him. But, you need to respect the fact that I'm with him and that's not going to change anytime soon." I replied sternly.

"Why don't you understand the position you've put yourself in? You're divergent, Alex. Someone like Eric isn't too fond of divergents because he feels like they have an unfair advantage in life. He's dangerous. No matter how much you think he cares about you, it won't stop him from taking you out," his voice got slightly harsher, but remain at a normal level.

"You don't know him like I do," I argued.

"You're right, I know him better," Tobias shot back.

"I'm done with this conversation," I rolled my eyes, not wanting to deal with this anymore. First dealing with Tobias this morning, then my mother, and now revisiting this subject again was really wearing me down. There was only so much shit I could put up with at once.

"Well, I'm not," Tobias grabbed my arm, keeping me in place as I began to take off. "I'm your brother, it's my job to protect you and tell you when you're not making the right choice."

"As my bother you should let me live my life and make my own mistakes. You're not alway going to be there and I need to lead my own life without you there giving me directions."

He let my arm go, but I didn't take off, I stood there face to face with him. We needed to settle this. "I'm trying to prevent you from doing something you're going to regret."

"What if I don't regret it? What if what I end up regretting is listening to you?" I crossed my arms. "If this ends bad, then feel free to tell me 'I told you so', but until then, leave me be."

He sighed, running his hand over his face. I noticed that he only does that when he's stressed out. "Fine. But don't get mad when I throw the 'I told you so' in your face, because trust me, I will."

"Yeah, I know, Tobi," I gave him a small smile, he returned the gesture with a small smirk of his own. "Let's go home."

"Race you."

"What?" Before I got the chance to process what he said, he took off running. I sprinted after him, not able to fight the smile on my face. It reminded me when we used to race home after school.

To say the least, I lost. When we reached the apartments, we parted ways, thankfully on good terms this time. Once I reach the top floor, I stopped in front of Eric's door. As much as I would like to just curl up next to him right now, I needed some space. I hung around my apartment for the couple of hours. I couldn't manage to get back to sleep so I wait till a decent hour to go down and get some breakfast.

I was surprised to see so many people in the dinning hall this early, but then again they had jobs to get to as well. I grabbed a plate of eggs and a muffin before looking for a seat. I noticed a familiar face sitting at the far end of the hall and decided to join him.

"Hey, Jake," I smiled as I sat across from him.

He looked up from his plate, a surprised look on his face. "Well, hey there stranger."

"Yeah, I know," I haven't seen him since we all got together and played Candor or Dauntless. I felt guilty because I haven't really seen much of my friends since initiation ended.

"Tori said you came into the shop to get other tat, I was kinda disappointed that you didn't have me do it," he chuckled slightly as I took a bite of my muffin.

"It's not my fault that you can't hold your alcohol and called in sick that day," I smiled as shrugged my shoulders.

"Yeah, that was pretty rough… that night was pretty interesting." He started to pick at his food.

"That's an understatement," I searched his features for a hint as to what he was thinking about.

"I wasn't drunk when I kissed you," He finally spoke. "I wanted to kiss you. I have for a long time…"

"Jake…" No, no, no, please no.

"No, I'm serious. I always wanted to tell you how I felt, but it just seemed that you were going through so much with your dad that I didn't want to add anymore shit to your plate," he confessed.

"Jake that's very sweet, but you're like a brother to me. That's how I've always seen you and I don't think I would see you any other way," I didn't want to hurt him. I didn't want to lose my best friend.

"Maybe you just haven't given it enough thought and really considered it," he looked up and I met his blue eyes.

"I'm with Eric, Jake." I stated, not knowing how to get around this.

"He's a jerk, Alex! Why would you want to be with someone like him?" He questioned, I could hear the venom in his voice.

"The same reason you'd want to with someone like me," I countered. Before Jake could argue back, some sat down next to me.

"Eric," Jake nearly spat. I wasn't sure if I was happy to see him at this exact moment or not.

Eric ignored Jake and turned to me. "I woke up and you were gone," I looked over at Jake and saw him duck his head, his fist clenched.

"I had some brother stuff to deal," It wasn't really a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth.

"Is he done being an asshole?" I noticed that his tone was different. It was the same tone that he used with everyone else in Dauntless, flat, and cold.

"I'm sure it wasn't Four being the asshole in the situation," I heard Jake mumble. Eric's attention snapped from me to Jake.

"I didn't realize that you were a part of this conversation," Eric growled.

"Just expressing my opinion," Jake shrugged.

"Don't," Eric snapped.

"Eric," I placed my hand on his thigh, trying to shift his attention from Jake back to me.

"Do you have a problem with me?" Jake questioned, starting his quest to push as many as of Eric's buttons as possible.

"Why would I have a problem with someone who doesn't know how to mind their own goddamn business?" He shot back.

"You know exactly why," I shot Jake a nasty glare, but he was too focused on Eric.

"You put your hands on her hand again and we're going to have a serious fucking problem, got it?"

"Is that supposes to scare me?" I swear to god Jake was trying to get himself killed.

Eric gave him a wicked smiled. "Don't be stupid, kid. Back off or you'll regret it."

Eric got and stood behind me, leaning over, "We have a meeting to go to after training. Don't be late," he kissed my neck, sending shivers down my spine, before leaving, as if he was marking his territory. I was surprised by his sudden affection in public. I assumed it was just to piss off Jake.

As Eric walked off, I gave Jake one last look before I gathered my trash and got up to leave. "I'm sorry, Jake, but nothing is going to happen between us. For your own sake, don't do anything to piss him off. I can only do so much."

"Alex…" he pleaded.

"I'm serious, Jake." With that I turned and made my way to the training room, my thoughts on the meeting that was to come later that day. Maybe Max was finally going to get us all in about his plans with Erudite.

* * *

**I hope you guys liked it! I'd love to hear what you guys think so feel free to leave a review or shoot me a PM! :)**


	26. Chapter 26

**Thank you guys for all the favorites and alerts. And thank you _BigBangVIP, queenoftrouble, HeartOfGolf7, and lostgirlx6277 _for the reviews!**

**Hope you guys like it!**

* * *

I struggled to catch my breath as I threw my fist into a punching bag. I needed to get out my frustrations and there was no better way to do it. From my brother, to my mom, to Jake, I felt like I was talking hit after hit and never swung back. This was me swinging back, letting off some steam.

I felt Eric come up behind me, but was too focused on my target to pay him any attention. But that killer focused was shattered as he pressed himself up behind me, reaching out to grab my arms. I felt the fabric of his shirt against my sweat drenched torso. I had thrown my shirt aside and was left in just a sports bra.

"You're going to hurt yourself," I felt his breath on my neck as he spoke.

"I'm fine," I said, catching my breath.

"If you're going to go that hard, take shorter swings, you'll be less likely to throw out your shoulders," he let go of my forearms and began to trail his hands up my arms.

"I'll keep that in mind," I instantly felt goose bump rise on my skin due to his touch.

"You want to tell me what's bugging you?" His fingers traced the claw marks that were inked onto my arm.

"I just need to stop caring so much," I took another swing at the bag.

"No, you just need to let things play out instead of thinking that everything that happens is a direct consequence of your actions. Fuck that little punk," he said referring to Jake. "Fuck your brother and everyone else who thinks that just because you're not their little princess anymore means that you're not good enough."

I couldn't help but smile at his words. Who knew he had a soft side. He kissed my neck, his hands finding my waist. "You're my princess now, and you'll never not be good enough."

I turned in his arms and tilted my head, a smile still firming planted on my face. "What?" he asked.

"Who knew you were such a softly. This is super out of character for you," I wrapped my arms around his neck.

"You make me this way. You and only you. But if you tell anyone I swear I'll kill you," he smirked.

"What would you do without me?" I teased.

"Don't make me have to find out," he pulled me closer, his lips meeting mine.

"Wow, that was gross," we pulled apart to find Jenn standing in the doorway.

"How much of that did you hear?" I questioned, chuckling. Eric looked away from both Jenn and I, embarrassed.

"Enough. Eric go back to being an asshole. Soft, cute, Eric make me uncomfortable," Jenn's face contorted to a disgusted look as she shook her head.

"That can be arranged," Eric untangled himself from me and head over to the bench to grab my shirt and a towel. He threw both at me.

"We're gonna be late for that meeting, let's go," Jenn turned on her heels, leaving me and Eric to follow.

The walk to Max's office was short, but comfortable. When we entered, Max, Leo, Jason, and Jenn were already sitting around a round table that was off to the right in his office which was probably half the size of my apartment. "Take a seat you two," Max instructed.

We did as we were told. I sat between Eric and Leo, Jenn sat directly across from me, Jason and Max on either side of her. "As some of you may know," Max started, "times are changing throughout the faction systems."

"What do you mean by that?" I asked. My father being the leader of the government meant that I was always informed on the latest issues we were having among the faction. Sure, there were a few arguments here and there and differences of opinions and view, but the workings and fundamentals of the faction systems have always maintained their order.

"The number of Divergents that we are coming across is on the incline and the threat that they pose to the faction system can no longer be ignored," Max informed the group. "They don't fit into any of the five factions and because of that, they cannot be controlled. If we expect to maintain the level of order that we've have in the past, then we have to put a plan in motion to rid the factions of Divergents."

This information hit me like a ton of bricks. I didn't know what to say or do. I looked up at Jenn, who must have seen my reaction, and she shook her head, glaring at me, telling me to keep quiet.

"Are you suggesting that we kill every Divergent?" Leo raised an eyebrow in curiosity, his face concerned by the topic at hand.

"Yes," Max answered bluntly.

"How would we even go about doing that?" Eric asked. My breath caught in my throat. Was he really considering doing this?

Max gave him a smirk. "The foundation for this operation has already been played out and discussed between myself and Jeanine Mathews."

"What?" Leo nearly spat. "You've made an alliance with the Erudite without the consent of any of us?"

"It was in the best interest of Dauntless. I didn't have time to discuss it with you all. The offer was on the table and a yes or no answer was required right then and there," Max said, defended his actions.

"We're talking hundreds and hundreds of people," I interjected. "Even if we did go through with this, how would we single out the Divergent from the rest of the population? They wouldn't just give themselves up."

"I set up a meeting with Jeanine for next week so she can go over the plan in detail with you all," Max's face remained emotionless through all of his dialogue, having no empithy for the lives he wanted to take.

"We haven't even agreed to this yet," Jenn pointed out.

"I understand that, but after the meeting next week, we'll discuss our options and your concerns," Max folded his hand in front of him.

I felt like all this information was being thrown at me at once and I wasn't having time to process it, but from what I gathered so far, Max wanted to kill me, my brother, and every other Divergent he could find.

"How dare you set this all in motion without running it past me first," Leo snarled. "You are all dismissed," Leo said referring to the rest of us. "I need to speak with Max."

Jason was the first out of the door, followed by myself, Eric and Jenn. "Is he serious?" I asked, completely baffled by this sudden turn of events.

"Divergents are a problem," Eric spoke. "everyone knows that."

"So we kill them all?" I looked at him wide-eyed. If only he knew I was Divergent. Would his opinion on the matter change or would it remind the same?

"Would you rather have the faction system crumble? They can't be controlled. What's stoping them from overthrowing the government and retaliating?" Eric challenged.

"What stops anyone from doing that?" I argued.

"Enough," Jenn said, putting a holt to are argument. "No more talk of this. We're going to let them deal with this," she pointed to the not closed door that head Max and Leo. "Once we get the final word from them, we'll go from there, okay?"

No, it wasn't okay. I wasn't going to sit back and let this happen. "Okay."

"Yeah, Okay." Eric agreed.

"I know you were supposed to be with me today, Alex, but if you want, you can 'shadow' Eric today," she smiled, knowing that no type of leadership training would happen.

"You sure?" I asked.

"Yeah, as long as he still comes back an asshole," Jenn joked.

"Deal," Eric agreed, chuckling.

"I'll see you guys later then," Jenn smiled at us before she walked off, leaving us alone in the hall.

"What do you want to do?" Eric asked.

"I need some air," I needed to get out of these Dauntless walls. I know I had an adventure last nice outside of them, but it wasn't a pleasant trip. I needed to relax, forget about everything.

I grabbed his hand and began to pull him along. To my surprise he went alone without question. When we made it to the Pit, I dropped his hand, I heard him sigh behind me, but didn't pay him any attention. I headed for the exit, Eric in tow. We were nearly there before I heard my name being called.

"Alex!" Aidan smiled as he jogged up to me. His smile faltered as he saw Eric, greeting him with a small nod before focusing on me. "What happened with you and Jake earlier?"

I glanced over at Eric, looking for a reaction. He held his cold façade, but he couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Nothing. He needs to grow and realize it's not going to happen."

"After all this time? I would have alway thought you guys would end up together..." I saw Aidan briefly look at Eric.

"I never saw him like that," I could tell Eric was getting impatient as he shifted from foot to foot. "I'm sorry, Aidan, but I have to go."

"I'll see you later then," Aidan looked at me, a little confused. He knew we were headed outside, but he probably wasn't expecting to keep the company that I did. Eric drooped his arm around my shoulders to my surprise.

"Come on," Eric, turned me in the direction of the exit. I saw Aidan's eyes go wide.

"So it's true?" He questioned.

"Yeah, it is," Eric answered for me. I was shocked by his sudden PDA and his openness. Eric pulled me along, leaving Aidan in the Pit.

"What was that? What happened to laying low?" I asked.

"It doesn't matter who knows. Your biggest concern was Four and he knows so who gives a fuck now?" I took the lead and led Eric to the train tracks.

"I do," I frowned. "I like this little bubble that we're in right now. I don't want this relationship to consist of me, you and all of Dauntless."

"It won't. I'm not shouting it from the roof top for everyone to know, but I won't deny it if I'm asked about it." He dropped his arm, facing me.

"Won't that take away from your cruel façade?" I smirked. I heard the train horn in the distance.

"I don't see why it would, but if it does, I don't care enough about their opinions for it to matter," he stated.

Nothing was said as the train approached. We broke into a run, easily making our way into the train car. "Where are we going?" he asked.

"Nowhere. I just wanted to take a train ride," I said as I sat against the back wall of the car, getting a good view of the passing scenery. Eric joined me, putting his arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer to him.

"I would have never thought I would have been sitting here a few months ago," I said after a while.

"What do you mean?"

"Here, with you," I smirked. "I remember when I first met you, there was something about you that scared me, but intrigued me at the same time. You were this big scary bear that I just had to poke with a stick."

"God, I was so pissed," he chuckled. "Here comes this Abnegation girl and her sharp tongue, sassing me in front of a new group of initiates."

"You were rushing me! It's not everyday someone tells you to jump off a building," I shoved him.

"You were taking forever!" He laughed.

"I still can't believe the shit you put me through..." I started. "You knocked my ass out, stabbed me, gave me so much shit on so many different occasions."

His smile disappeared and was replaced by a frown. "I was an asshole. You were getting in my head, in my heart...I was trying to push you away, but it didn't work. I'm so sorry. I'll never be able to make that up."

"Hey," I shifted my position. I pulled away from him and faced my body towards him, crossing my legs. I grabbed his hand, "I forgive you. It's okay."

"But its not," he looked away from me.

"Eric, look at me," he brought his eyes to mine. "I don't want your pitty. What you did, it lit a fire under my ass. I was determined to beat everyone, I was determined to send a big 'fuck you' you're way. In a weird twisted way, you helped me."

"You're a strange one, you know that? Nobody else would put up with that much shit from me and still be sitting next to me." He rubbed his thumb over the top of my hand.

"Well maybe if you didn't push people away with every chance you got you would have more people sitting next to you," I looked down at our hands, my eyes following the movement of his thumb.

"The only person I need sitting next to me is you," I looked back up at him, his grey eyes were focused on me.

"You made a deal with Jenn that you'd come back still an asshole, I think you're headed in the wrong direction," I chuckled.

"It's nice to not be an asshole for once, to be myself," I moved closer to him, laying my head on his lap, propping my knees up as I looked up at him.

"So then why do you act like one all the time?" That was a question I had been asking since the day I first met him. That was the question that I had wanted an answer to since I took my first steps in Dauntless.

"It's easier not to care. I'm a brand new leader. A majority of this faction is older then me," the fingers to his free hand began to trace the claw marks that climbed down my arm. "They wouldn't respect me because to them I'm was just this Erudite kid who wiggled his way into leadership. But with fear, comes respect. It was the fastest and most efficient way to get it. Plus, coming out of initiation, a lot of people didn't like me because I didn't like your brother, and EVERYBODY loved your brother, so I was labeled as the bad guy," he kinda smirked as he played with my hair, "I had the label so I figured I'd just play into it."

"Why didn't you like Four?" A stray string from the hem of his shirt caught my eye and I couldn't help but to twist it around in my fingers.

"He was the underdog, I was the top dog, it became a rivalry. Everybody loved him because he was the underdog and it drove me crazy that he was put on the same level as me," he said. "I came in second to him."

"I bet nobody ever asked for your side of the story." I stated. Hearing this from him gave me a whole new perspective, not just on him, but on Dauntless too.

"Nobody cared enough to ask," it hurt to hear that. To think, the guy that nobody liked, that everybody thought was so cruel and cold, was just like everyone one else. He had a heart, he had an opinion, and he had a side that nobody was ever on.

"Well I care, and I'll always ask," I smiled at him. "How was your day? Why'd you yell at that kid? Why'd you beat the shit out of that guy? Why are you so grumpy? Why-,"

"Alright, that's enough," he chuckled.

That's how we stayed all afternoon as we rode through the city on the train, talking and laughing, it was exactly what I needed.

Once we finished our third trip around the city, we decided to head back to Dauntless. Before we head down to dinner, we headed back up to our apartments for a shower and change of clothes. I had just gotten out of the shower when I heard a knock at the door. I quickly got dressed, brushing my wet hair as I made my way to the door.

I opened the door and was greeted by Jenn. "Hey, what's up?"

"I need to talk to you. Is Eric here?" She looked over my shoulder and into my apartment.

"No, he's at his place. Talk about what?" I stepped aside, letting her in.

"I need to talk to you about this alliance with Erudite and the plan to get rid of the Divergents. I know you don't want it and neither do I."

* * *

**I hope you guys liked it! I'd love to hear what you guys think so feel free to leave a review or shoot me a PM! :)**


	27. Chapter 27

**Thank you guys for all the alerts and favorites! And thank you _BigBangVIP, queenoftrouble, Cassie-D1, Kaityln, Nicole1014, Liam1094, XWarrior and Dina _for the reviews!**

* * *

I gave Jenn a strange look, trying my best to not let her know how true her words were. "What?"

"I saw the look on your face when Max told us about his plan," Did I really make it that obvious?

I stepped aside, letting her in. "Hundreds of people are gonna die if we do this," I finally said as I sat next to her on the couch.

"Hundreds of Divergents," Jenn countered.

"Divergents are people too, ya know." I snapped.

"You would know, wouldn't you?" I looked away from her. "I know you're Divergent."

"What?" I looked at her wide eyed. I felt this weight drop on my shoulders, an ice cold hand griped my throat.

"Its okay, so am I," she confessed, a slight smile on her face. "But that's why I need your help."

"How does me being Divergent help you?" If anything it seemed like it would only worsen the situation.

"Because you see things from my point of view. You understand that people like us aren't a threat."

"Do the rest of the leaders know? How did you manage to keep it from them all these years?" I had so many questions that I wanted to asked. I'd never know of any other Divergent besides my brother.

"No, they don't. It's not that difficult to hide from them. Whenever the topic of Divergents comes up, you just have to go along with the conversation, side with them and they won't question where you stand," she informed me.

"So you just pretended you felt the same way about Divergents as they did?" I wouldn't have thought something that simple would work.

"Yeah, of course. This is Dauntless, not Erudite," she chuckled. "But that's why in the upcoming meetings that we have about the plan, you have side in favor for it."

"But how is that going to stop it?"

"Its not. Max has put us too far in the mix with Erudite to even have a chance to stop it." I could see that she was bothered by this. Bothered by the uselessness that came from not being able to save hundreds of innocent people.

"So then what do you need me for?" If we couldn't stop it, then what could I possibly do?

"Damage control. We have to find out who the Daultless-Divergents are and get them out of here." I ran my hand through my hair, taking out my ponytail, letting my hair fall over my shoulders.

"Here?" I asked.

"This city. To the other side of the wall," she looked confused at my lack of understanding.

"There isn't anything on the other side of the wall. And wouldn't it be obvious if people just started to disappear?" I began to play with the hair tie that was threaded around my fingers.

"Not if we fake their death. I've been doing it for years and no one has suspected a thing." Jenn was probably about five to ten years older then me. How many people had she gotten out of this factions unnoticed?

"How would you fake their death?"

She gave me a strange look, as if the answers to the questions I was asking were obvious. "People find a body at the bottom of the chasm that's beat up, unidentifiable and then you have someone who missing, they connect the dots and make assumptions. Like I said, this is Dauntless, not Erudite."

I let her words process as they bounced around my head. A name found its way to the surface of my thoughts and I just had to ask about it. "So you're saying Amar isn't really dead?"

"Nope," she said, popping the 'p'. "I remember Amar. He was one of the instructors last year during Eric and Four's initiation. Max was starting to get a little to close to finding out about him so I helped him out of here."

"Wow, that's brilliant." I said amazed.

There was a knock at the door, that drew both of our eyes towards it. "Its probably Eric."

"You can't tell him about any of this," she motioned between the two of us, referring to all the information I'd just received. "He's very anti-Divergent due to all the bullshit he was told growing up in Erudite."

"I can't hide that I'm Divergent from him forever," I frowned. "He'll find out eventually."

"Not if you don't want him too," as Jenn spoke she got up. I followed suit and walked over to the door. I wiped my current emotions off my face and replaced them with a smile as I opened the door.

"Hey," Eric looked a me first and then over at Jenn.

"I was just leaving," Jenn smiled.

"Where are you headed?" I asked.

"Dinning hall," she informed us.

"We'll walk with you," I offered since me and Eric were headed there anyway.

"Yeah, sure why not," she agreed and started off towards the stairs.

Me and Eric fell in step behind her. "What were guys talking about?" he asked out of curiosity, hints of his Erudite past showing.

"You," I chuckled, thinking of something on the spot.

"Yeah, and how you've gone soft," Jenn said, playing along.

"No I haven't!" Eric said defensively. Jenn and I both laughed at his sudden reaction.

I nudged him and smiled. He smirked back, putting his left arm around my shoulders. I took my left hand and intertwined my fingers with his. The rest of the journey to the dinning hall was filled with teasing and joking, the mood becoming much lighter then what it was in my apartment.

As we went to the enter dinning hall, I tried to untangle my hand from his, but he tightened his grip. I looked at him, confused. He just smirked as we walked into the crowed room. "Are you sure?" I asked him.

As we continued into the dinning hall, he leaned over so his lips were a few inched from my ear. "Don't tell me you've forgotten about our earlier conversation. I'm not gonna try to hide this anymore. I want every guy in here to know that you're mine."

I couldn't help smiling at his words. As we made our way to our table, I could feel the eyes of the majority of the room on us. I brushed off their stares as we sat down at our table, joining Jason.

"It's about time," Jason smirked.

"Shut up, Jason," I could almost hear Eric's eyes roll. I chuckled, shaking my head. Besides the occasional stare or gossipy whisper, dinner went off without a hitch, the same stupid banter bounced between the three of us.

I jumped a little when I felt someone tap my shoulder. I turned, smiling at Olivia. "Hey, Liv!" I was super excited to see her. I felt like I hadn't spent any time with her since we finished initiation.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to interrupt," she said shyly.

"No, not at all," Jenn answered. "Sit."

Jenn patted the open seat next to her which was across from me. Olivia obliged, her muscles still tense as she sat at the table full of leaders. "What's up?" I asked.

"Well, I planned a little party for you tomorrow at my place…" She trailed off.

"For what?" Eric asked. There was a little edge in his voice, but it wasn't nearly as harsh it usually would be when he talked to anyone else in our faction.

"Oliv-," I tried to stop the information from leaving her mouth but it was too late.

"For her birthday," Olivia answered. Eric sent her a confused look, then shifted his attention towards me.

"Tomorrow's your birthday?" He raised his pierced eyebrow in question.

"Well, yeah…" Birthdays weren't my thing. They weren't a thing for any Abnegation past, present, or future. The Abnegation didn't believe in a day that celebrated your birth. They thought it was very selfish and should be treated as any other day. My mom would aways sneak me something though, a small intriguing object she had found or another thing that was forbidden for an Abnegation. After she 'died', birthdays were just another day that were a painful memory of my thought-to-be dead mother.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Eric seemed a little offended.

"Yeah, seriously," Jason chirped it. "Drinks are on the house at the bar when it's your birthday."

"Birthdays just aren't my thing I guess," I shrugged. Tobias wasn't fond of his birthday either, but I always found a way to celebrate it in a small way.

"You can't _not _celebrate your birthday in Dauntless," Jenn smiled. "I won't let you."

"You guys are welcome to come," Olivia smiled, inviting them. Olivia shifted her attention to Eric hesitantly. "So are you, Eric."

I smiled at her and mouthed the words 'thank you'. She gave me a small nod and I nudged Eric. "I'll think about it," he muttered.

"Sounds like a plan!" Jenn beamed. "We'll see you tomorrow, Olivia."

"Awesome! See you guys then." Olivia excitedly said as she got up and made her way back over to her previous table.

Three Dauntless leaders and an apartment full of my friends? Sounded like a situation that I should avoid at all costs, but hey, what the hell.

Eric remained quiet throughout the rest of dinner as the remaining three of us continued on. I noticed this, but wasn't going to point it out in front of Jenn and Jason.

A little while later we deciced to part ways and call it a night. Eric walked ahead of me, which confused me. After our entrance into the dinning hall, I expected to leave the same way or to at lease have him by my side and not five feet in front of me.

This space between us, allowed a certain degenerate asshole to step in my path. "So you and Eric, huh?"

"Get out of my face, Seth," I growled. I could feel my heart rate begin to accelerate and my palms begin to sweat. He still scared the shit out of me, but I wasn't going to let him know that.

"That explains a lot," he gave me one of those smug smirks that I wanted to slap off his face, "the only reason you ranked so high was because you were fucking one of the leaders."

My fist balled up as I fell my anger rise through my body, but before I could say or do anything, Seth was spun around, Eric landing a hard punch square to his jaw. Seth dropped to the ground, his eyes nearly rolling back into his head as he struggled to come back from the blow.

The whole room had gone quiet, but my focus was on Eric as he motioned me forward, wrapping his arm around my shoulders as we made our way out of the dinning hall. I was expecting him to say something as we made our way back to the apartments, but he didn't.

Once we found our way to his apartment, I wiggled out of his grasp. "What's up with you hmm? Why are you being so quiet."

"I'm just a little peeved, that's all," he huffed as kicked off his boots.

"Well, no shit." I rolled my eyes. "You just laid out Seth in the middle of the dinning hall."

"It'll make people think twice about saying shit," he reasoned.

"That's not my point. There's something else bothering you," I pushed as he pulled off his jacket.

"You really don't know?" He looked at me like I was stupid and I swear I was getting ready to pick up a book and throw it at his stupid attractive face.

"I wouldn't be asking if I knew, now would I?" I returned his look, rolling my eyes.

"Were you really not going to tell me your birthday was tomorrow?" He asked. All of this was bout my birthday?

"I didn't even realize it was tomorrow until Olivia brought it up," I mean I knew it was tomorrow, but it wasn't a thought that was prioritized at the front of my brain.

"Bullshit, Alex!" he snapped back. He voice stayed at a consistent volume, but became harsher.

"I don't like my birthday, okay?" I said defensively.

"Still," he started. "You can't keep shit like that from me. If this is going to work," he motioned between the two of us, "you have to be honest about things with me."

"That works both ways, ys know?" I couldn't think of anything else to say.

"There hasn't been anything that I haven't let you know or a question that I haven't answered honestly. I'm closer to you then I am to anyone in this faction, shit, you're one of the few people in this faction that actually sees me, for me." He seemed more upset then angry. He started to make his way to the bathroom before he turned back around. "It bothers me that your friends know more about you then I do. I don't want that to be the case."

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize that it bothered you that much," I said lowly.

"Well, it does. I know you've had a shitty past, but I just want you to be open with me, I don't think that's too much to ask for," and with that he ended the conversation, stepping into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

He may not think so, but being open with him, or anyone for that fact, isn't as easy as he might think, at least not for me.

* * *

**I hope you guys liked it! I'd love to hear what you guys think so feel free to leave a review or shoot me a PM! :)**


	28. Chapter 28

**Thank you guys for all the favorites and alerts! And thank you Cassie-D1, queenoftrouble, Lucy Greenhill, MyhusbandsaPRICK, HeartOfGold, and maximumred for the reviews!**

**I'm sorry it's been so long guys :/ I just kinda lost track of time with school and work.**

**I hope you guys like it. It's kinda a filler chapter.**

* * *

I groaned as I felt something cold against my skin, waking me up. Eric slid his cold hand under my shirt and across my stomach, wrapping his tattooed arm around my waist. He pulled me closer to him till my back was pressed up against his chest.

"Good morning," he said, his voice laced with sleep. I couldn't help but to smile, surprised by his mood change since last night, but was glad to see that he was no longer upset. Once he had gotten out of the bathroom, he left the apartment, not letting me know where he was going. I went to bed before he got back, I didn't even hear him come home.

"Morning," I yawned. What time was it? I was supposed to meet Tobias later on today.

My skin tingled as I felt his lips press against my neck. "Happy birthday," he said between kisses.

I turned so that I was on my back, my head turned to him, his arm still draped around my waist. "So you're not upset with me anymore?" I asked. He propped his head up using his elbow. I brought my hand up, tracing down his neck tattoos with my fingers.

"I wasn't upset with you. I was upset that your friends knew more about you then I did. I'm supposed to be your..." he trailed off, his eyes leaving mine.

"My what?" I pushed. I continued to trace my finger down his bare chest.

"Anything you want me to be," he smirked, grabbing my wandering hand.

"Well, boyfriend would be a good start," I looked up at him, finding his steel eyes that have found a much softer look since I first met him.

"Boyfriend it is then, birthday girl," he kissed my hand and brought his lips to mine. He deepened the kiss, my thoughts dissipating, my focus on just him. He moved so that he was now straddling my hips. He pulled away from me, a devilish smirk on his face.

"No Dauntless doesn't like their birthday and you will not be the exception," he planted his hands on either said of my head, his face inches from mine.

"I do pride myself on being different," I countered. I couldn't help but run my eyes over every detail of his face. From his piercing, to his grey stormy eyes, to the way his jaw gave him such an intimating look.

"I'm gonna make you love your birthday," his lips moved to my neck, nipping me here and there. My hands found his hair as I ran my finger through it. He moved from my neck to my jaw and then back to my lips. He tugged at my lips ring with his teeth. "Even if it takes me all day."

He anchored his lips to mine, the kiss so deep and full of passion it made my head spin. He pressed his hips into mine, earning a moan from me. "We don't have all day," I said realistically. "I have to shadow Jason today."

"I talked to him last night," he muttered between kisses. "you're all mine today."

XXX

I padded to the kitchen in one of Eric's shirts. I started up the coffee maker and grabbed a mug from the cabinet. It was a little late for coffee, almost one in the afternoon. It didn't take very long for Eric to stroll out of the bedroom, a pair of sweat pant hanging lowly on his hips.

Before he could reach me, there was a knock at the door. He sighed, giving me an annoyed look. I chuckled at his expression. As much as I loved our little world at the moment, I knew it wouldn't be long before our bubble was popped.

Eric made his way over to the door, I waited a few moments before following, waiting for the coffee. I smiled when Eric opened the door. Olivia stood before us, wide-eyed at the shirtless Eric. I didn't blame her though.

"Hey!" I greeted.

"I'm sorry if I interrupted something..," She started.

"No! Not at all," I smiled. I looked at Eric, his expression the one of a cold annoyed leader. I shoved him behind me, stepping into the doorway.

"I just wanted to come wish you a happy birthday since I didn't see you at breakfast. I checked your place, but you weren't there so I figured you'd be here," she explained.

"Awe, thank you," I loved Olivia and that Dauntless had yet to corrupt her Amity instinct for caring for people.

"I bought this for you," she handed me a flat box with a black bow on it. "You can wear it to the party tonight."

"You shouldn't have," I smiled gratefully, taking the box from her and giving her a hug. "I'll definitely wear it tonight."

"Awesome. So I'll see you tonight then," she beamed. "Both of you?"

"Yes, both of us," I answered before Eric could say anything.

"Okie doke! See you guys later," she waved and turned to leave, but before she stepped forward she turned back. "Oh, by the way, Four was looking for you, he asked me to tell you to find him in the control room if I found you first."

"Okay, thanks, I'll go see him now." Shit, I was so tangle up with Eric that I totally forgot about my brother.

With that, she turned, making her way down the hall till she disappeared. I stepped back inside so Eric could shut the door. "I have to go see Four," I let him know.

"Now?" He followed me as I walked back to the kitchen.

"Yes, now." I placed the box that Olivia had given me on the counter and addressed the freshly brewed coffee. "I'll only be a few hours tops."

"An hour," he came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and resting his head on my shoulder as I poured coffee.

"An hour and a half and you come to that party with me," I compromised.

He dropped his arms from waist and stepped back from me. "Those are your friends, not mine."

"It's my birthday party and you're going to be there whether you, or they like it or not," I took as spit of my coffee, glad to feel the caffeine buzz.

He was quiet for a few minutes. I went into his room, gathering my clothes, getting dressed. I went to the bathroom next, brushing my hair and teeth. After I pulled on my second boot I headed towards the door.

"An hour and a half," I heard him say as he came out of the bedroom. I smiled as I opened the door. I looked back over my shoulder at him. He had my coffee mug up to his lips as he finished off the rest of the brown hot caffeinated liquid I had left. "I'm not done with you yet," he smirked.

"Ditto," I called over my shoulder as I closed the door.

I tucked my hands into the pockets of my zip-up hoodie as I found my way to the control room. I had only been to the control room once before with Max as he explained in-depth the significance of some of the Dauntless jobs.

The guard that was stationed at the door gave me a nod in greeting before opening the door for me. I smiled, feeling.

My eyes scanned the room looking for my older brother. I found Zeke, then Aidan, and finally Tobias. I made my way over to him, leaning up against his computer.

"Hey, birthday girl," he smiled, getting up out of his seat, embracing me in a bear hug. Aidan and Zeke soon made their way over as Tobias let go of me.

"How's your day been so far?" Aidan asked. "I haven't seen you all day."

"It's going great," I smiled, thinking of my time with Eric.

"Just a heads up, we're all going to get wasted tonight at your party," Zeke smirked, a mischievous glint in his eye.

"Yeah, because that ended up so well," I chuckled. That was when everything unraveled with Jake and I had that huge blow out with Eric. Hopefully things will go a little smoother this time.

"Is Eric going to come?" Aidan seemed hesitant to ask the question, but said what was on the other boys' mind as well.

"Yeah, he's going to be there," I confirmed. If getting Eric to that party was the last thing that I do then so be it. I wanted him there so he was going to be there.

"Sweet," Zeke beamed. "Maybe we can see that asshole loosen up for once. After we get a few beers in him he might not be so bad."

I heard Tobias sigh, but ignored him as Aidan spoke. "Either way, it's your party, Alex and we're gonna make sure you have a great time, right, Four?"

"Right," his smile seemed a little forced, but I payed it no mind. "Have you eaten lunch yet?"

"No actually, I'm starving. You wanna go eat?" It had been awhile since I sat down and had a meal with my brother.

"Yeah, let's go," he agreed. "You boys good here?"

Both of them nodded, giving us the thumbs-up to go.

With that, we started our way to the dinning hall. The walk was short as we chatted about the most recent things in Dauntless and how my training was going. Once we entered the dinning hall I was nearly tackled in a hug.

"Happy Birthday!" Kristen shouted. A smiled stretched across my face from ear to ear. I hadn't seen Kristen since she was sent to the wall weeks ago.

"When did you get back?" I asked, estatic to see her.

"Last night. I wasn't going to miss your first birthday party in Dauntless!" She smiled.

"Damn straight you weren't," I laughed. "So I'll see you tonight then?"

"Duhh," she chuckled. "I'll catch up with you later, though. I haven't seen Olivia yet."

"See you tonight," she gave me one last hug before running off.

"God, I love this place so much more than Abnegation. This place feels like home," I commented as I fell in line with Tobais.

"I know what you mean."

It wasn't long before we got our food and took a seat. Just as we did so, I turned to watch Eric enter the dinning hall. His eyes found mine and he smirked. He looked across from me and noticed Four, sticking up his index finger, signaling that I had an hour left. I couldn't help but chuckle and shake my head. Tobias noticed this and couldn't help but look between us. Eric turned and walked towards the leader table that Jason and Max were sitting at.

"So how's that going? You and Eric?" he asked. I could tell it made him uncomfortable, but at least he was trying.

"Do you really want to know or are you just trying to make it seem like you're more okay with it then you actually are?" I tested.

"I really want to know. I want to know if that dick is treating my sister right," he responded.

"That 'dick' has done nothing but make me happy. He's treating me the way I should be treated. Don't worry, I put him in his place when he steps out of line." Sure Eric and I have had our arguments here and there, but like Lizzy said, if we don't argue sometimes that means we don't care. Its over stupid shit too and I think that once we really get used to being together those small problems will fade way.

"Why do I find that so hard to believe?" He chuckled, which surprised me.

"Because you think he's a killer when he's not," I countered, cutting right to the point.

"Alexandra..." he groaned. I could tell he didn't want to get into this right now.

"I'm serious," I said lowely. "Amar is still alive."

"What?" he asked in disbelief.

"He's alive. His death was faked," my tone still low. This wasn't the place for this conversation. "I'll tell you more about it somewhere else, not here, not right now." I could tell by the look on his face he was not satisfied with my answer.

"Fine. He still better be on his best behavior tonight," he rolled his eyes.

"Hey! Same goes for you, brother. Don't ruin this for me," I pointed my finger at him accusingly. "I'm finally starting to enjoy a birthday and if you fuck it up over your petty shit with Eric then there will be hell to pay." I said harshly.

"Okay, okay, but same rules apply to him," he glanced over to the young Dauntless leader.

"Trust me, he knows that."

We sat in the dinning hall, talking and laughing for another 45 minutes or so, no more talk about Eric or any controversial topics. I was glad that I got to spend this time with him, it felt like old times. I was happy and I was grateful that he was apart of that happiness. Sure, he pushed my buttons like no other at times, but he's my brother, he's supposed to do that.

"I gotta head back," he frowned. "Hopefully they didn't burn it to the ground yet."

"Oh come on, Tobi, have a little faith in them. They aren't that incompetent," I chuckled.

"You'd be surprised," with that I laughed as we both got up.

"I'll see you tonight," he hugged me good-bye.

"Yessir," I smiled.

I watched him go, following not so far behind him. I walked up the table that sat Eric and Jason. Max must have left without me noticing.

"Ah, right on time," Eric smirked. "I was afraid I was gonna have to come over there and yet you."

"Pfttt, okay. We all know that wouldn't have ended well for anyone," I chucked.

"You're right on that one," Jason agreed as he smiled.

Eric stood, nodding his farewell to Jason.

I stuck out my hand, hoping he would take it. I could see his urge to look around to see if anyone was watching, but he restrained himself from doing so, grabbing my hand and intertwining our fingers.

"What time is the party?" he asked.

"Six I think? Why?" I replied.

"That's plenty of time," was all he said, a smirk on his face as we made are way back up to the apartment.

"How are you liking your birthday so far?" We had just reached the top floor when he spoke.

"I have to say, it's been pretty good. Think you could make it any better?" I smirked as we came up to his door.

"Definitely," with that he opened his door, pulling me inside.

* * *

**I hope you guys liked it! I'd love to hear what you guys think so feel free to leave a review or shoot me a PM! :)**


End file.
